


The Weird Ones

by Vonnelise



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Barely Legal, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, F/M, Facials, Interracial Relationship, Kinda forced blow job, Loss of Virginity, Older Man/Younger Woman, Oral Sex, Recreational Drug Use, Sex, Sexy times in later chapters, Shy, Underage Drinking, Vaginal Sex, rich guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2017-12-12 23:53:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 30
Words: 118,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/817520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vonnelise/pseuds/Vonnelise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"They'll judge us," Dean whispers. I shrug my shoulders. "Wouldn't be the first time."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. But I don't wanna!

Downtown Chicago is a really nice place. No, really, it is. With all the people, buildings, restaurants, stores, and not to mention the beach. There’s so much to do. So much to see. But, I just have to be stuck helping my mom with her catering business just because one of her lazy ass employees called in sick. Great. “But mom, you know I have a party to go to,” I whine as I follow her around the house. We end up in the laundry room and she starts loading the washer before answering me, cue obnoxious eye roll. “I saw that,” she says. I roll my eyes again for good measure. 

“Mom, I know the type of people that you cater for. They’re rich, snooty, douche bags who think they’re better than everyone else. Do you really want me around those kind of people? Remember last time?” 

Last time my mom made me one of the servers for a gala, I ended up punching a woman in the face for continuously snapping her fingers at me so she could get my attention. You may be thinking that I overreacted, and I’m thinking, fuck you. She shouldn’t have been snapping her fingers at me just so she could get another fucking glass of wine. 

“Keep your hands to yourself, and we won’t have any problems,” mom says as she finally shuts the washer’s door. I know when I’m defeated, I can smell it in the air, and something’s pretty funky. I huff and puff, but in the end, “Who are we catering this time?” She smiles that evil smile, because she knows that she just won. Ugh.

“It’s the Hayworth Gala. Very black tie. Rich people only,” she says. “Well, we’re not rich. I guess we’re not going.” I turn and make my way to the kitchen. She follows. “The help doesn’t need to be rich. We just need to make sure that the rich are fed. Saturday at seven. But we need to be there at five to set things up.” Since she’s made her point, and she knows she has, she leaves me in the kitchen so I can be left alone with my pity. 

“Are you serious, Bryn? This is gonna be like the party of the year. Well, maybe not the year, but it’s gonna be fun!” My friend, Lily nearly yells. The whole class looks our way. I narrow my eyes and they look away quickly. “You are such a bully,” my other friend, Benny mumbles. I nudge him in the stomach and get back to the subject.

“Sorry, I already tried to convince her. She’s not having it,” I say. “But what about your sister?” Benny crawls himself into the conversation. My hand twitches at the mention of that little bitch. “She’s too clumsy and weird. My mom wouldn’t even think about asking her.” 

“There’ll be other parties,” Benny mumbles. I never noticed till this moment how much Benny mumbles. It’s extraordinary. “I’m sorry to see you all torn up.” I sneer at him. He just gives me a smile so big, you can hardly see his eyes. 

“You never trust me with anything. What if I’m better at catering than Bryn, but we’ll never find out because you never give me a chance, hmm?” My turd of a little sister accuses as my mom and I get ready for the event. I roll my eyes and continue on tying this dang tie. “Renee, Bryn is older. I’m sure you’d be great when you get older,” mom soothes, for some reason. “Not to mention you don’t have any people skills whatsoever,” I grunt. I can see Renee’s eyes narrow on me through the mirror. Jeez, we look just alike when we do that. Not good. “Oh, so punching people in the face counts as good people skills?” She asks as she snaps her fingers at me. 

I give up on the tie and stomp towards Renee, ready to punch her. Mom grabs my fist and gently pushes me to the wall so she can fix my tie. “Renee, we need to go, so we’ll finish this conversation when I get back, okay?” Renee rolls her eyes but stomps her scrawny ass up stairs anyway. 

“You know she’d be worse than me if you brought her along,” I whisper. Mom cracks a smile, but it disappears quickly because she remembers that she’s a mom. “I can’t tell her that, Bryn. She’s my daughter. Now get in the car.” 

We arrive in front of the Hilton Hotel Downtown. “Doesn’t this hotel have its own catering?” I ask as we start unpacking the equipment. “Yes, but my catering company was wanted,” mom answers. I take one more deep breath before heading inside.

When we walk into the hotel’s kitchen, mom’s staff is already there getting stuff ready. I walk over to Dovett. He is the fiercest white gay guy you will ever meet. And looks better than most girls. His hair is almost white it’s so blonde and he looks a bit like a doll with his make up on. Mom has told him to calm down on the make-up, but I love it. He looks up at me and smiles.

“Oh, God. Laurence’s lazy ass didn’t show up again?” Dovett asks. I roll my eyes and say, “Yeah. I hate that guy. Mom needs to just fire his ass already.” “And you know exactly who she’s going to hire after that? You.” I pause from taking the serving silver out the box and think. “Laurence can keep his tacky job,” Dovett snickers a bit before saying, “Hey! I work here, too! And it’s not going to be too bad. The men here are to die for, honey. Trust.” “I’m trusting you, Dovett. But if I don’t see a hot guy in the first five minutes, it’s gonna be me and you.” “You’re such a bully.” I smile. “I get that a lot.” 

Dovett and I walk into the main ballroom; I think it’s called, to see the room totally transformed into an elegant dark room filled with deep purple splashing onto the wall and crystal chandeliers hanging from everywhere. For a minute, I feel kind of rich. “What is this event for?” Dovett asks as we walk around while people grab things from our silver trays. “Something for Alzheimer’s. I hope we get tipped like last time,” I whisper back.

“Yeah, that’d be nice. But highly unlikely. Hey, look at that guy over there.” I follow Dovett’s gaze to see a guy maybe in his thirties with short dark hair and an arrogant smile. Dovett’s type, not mine. “He’s all yours. Oh, and you got about three more minutes to find a guy to my liking.” He rolls his eyes but smiles. “You’re the pickiest bitch I’ve ever met, Bryn.” A woman on my left hears Dovett’s comment and serves us with a dirty look. “And don’t you forget it.” 

The party continues and it seems that it gets more boring by the second. It’s the usual, really. Snobby rich people in their most expensive suits and gowns looking down on us the servers as if we just stepped on their priced ten thousand dollar puppy. I seriously didn’t know a puppy could be so expensive till Dovett told me. 

“Excuse me, but do you have a 1964 Char Marmot red wine?” A woman in a sparkling puke green gown asks me. The damn dress is so ugly, I can’t take my eyes off of it. How can something be so expensive, but so ugly? She clears her throat which knocks me out of my daze. “Sorry, I don’t think we have that one,” I clear my throat. She does a little eye roll and my hand turns into a fist. “Is there anything else you would like?” I try. 

She waves me off. “If you don’t have the Marmot, then you wouldn’t have any other wine that I like,” she says her peace then saunters away. I’m about to follow her before Dovett comes out of no where and stops me. “Hey there, tiger. No need, her husband is in a room right now banging Ruby. Karma’s scratching at her neck.” I take a deep breath and a smile forms on my face. “Go serve that dude. He hasn’t moved from that spot since he’s got here. I’d go, but he looks like he has a few people in his basement,” Dovett jokes. 

My eyes look at the guy he’s talking about. And. He’s. Gorgeous. Like a weird, scared kind of gorgeous. Like he’s ready to break at any moment. Like he’s someone who will listen to everything that I say. And that is rich. “You may have not found him in the first five minutes, but you did find him nonetheless,” I say as I make my way over to the man at a table by himself. “Figures you’d like the weird one,” I hear Dovett say in the distance.

As I get closer and closer, he seems to get hotter by the minute. He has salt and pepper hair, puppy dog eyes, and a nice built. Not too much muscle, but not scrawny either. Just the way I like them. When I finally make it to his table, he looks startled. And he looks beautiful startled. I don’t mean for my predatory smile to come out, but by the way he’s looking, it’s already there. 

“Scare ya?” I ask as I set a drink down for him. He shakes his head and clears his throat. “No, it’s just- never mind.” His voice is low and silky and I can listen to it for days. I look around and notice that he picked the most secluded table in the room to sit at. I look for my mom, but don’t find her. An evil smile forms on my face and I take a seat next to him. 

He looks surprised to find a person actually sitting with him. “No, what were you gonna say?” I ask him. He opens then closes his mouth, then opens it again. “You’re just going to think I’m a weird old man.” He tries to make it a joke, I can tell, but his body language says that someone’s already called him that before. I giggle, to make him feel better. 

“Don’t know where they got the ‘old man’ part from.” He cracks a smile at that. And he has dimples! My favorite. “It’s just that, not that many people talk to me at these things. They just ask for my signature on checks.” He takes a sip of the champagne that I put on the table earlier. 

“You seemed like a nice guy. I’m Tambryn Caverly, but people just call me Bryn,” I hold my hand out for him to shake. He looks at it, and then shakes it. “Dean Maverick, nice to meet you, Tambryn.” His hands are surprisingly soft. I mean, the only other guy I know with soft hands is Dovett, and well, that’s because he’s gay. He has a whole cabinet filled with expensive lotions just for his hands. Oh, God, I hope he’s not gay. 

“Are you gay?” I blurt it. I didn’t even think about it. My brain-to-mouth filter has been broken for years. Dean’s eyebrows rise at my bluntness. “N-no, I’m not.” “I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t meet a lot of guys with really soft hands, just my gay friend, Dovett. He’s here actually. See, that guy with the bleach blonde hair?...I’m sorry,” I say all in one breath. 

Dean actually takes the time to look over at Dovett and his eyes widen. Yeah, that’s everyone’s reaction when they first get a look at Dovett. His ocean blue eyes meet mine again and the smallest smile is there. “It’s okay. I know what you mean. I have to shake men’s hands all day. Not the softest. Did you say your name was Caverly?” He says. I smile. Thank God he didn’t get offended. “Yeah, I did.” 

“Oh, so your parents own this catering business?” I look down at the napkin that Dean’s pointing to. Dark Cavern Catering. “What? I don’t look like I can own a business?” I ask jokingly. Dean blushes and looks down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. You just look young.” He says all that in a whisper. He’s adorable. “I’m just joking. Yeah, my mom owns the catering business. Made me fill in for one of her lazy ass employees.” The blush disappears and he looks relieved that I’m not mad at him. 

“You seem to work great with people. I would’ve thought that this was your permanent job,” he compliments. The blush is back as if it had never left. “Sorry, I don’t want you to think I’ve been stalking you this whole night.” I smile. With the way he looks, he can stalk me all he wants. “But you have been looking at me?” I ask with my brow cocked. He looks as if he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It’s hard to believe that he’s the older one in the conversation.

“I-well-no- yes.” He finally gives up. “Why?” His eyes look up at mine. He shrugs his shoulders and says, “You’re pretty.” Now it’s my turn to be surprised. “I’m sorry. I over stepped my bounds. It was stupid to say,” Dean rambles and rambles. “No, no, no. You did nothing wrong, it’s just that I’m not used to people calling me pretty,” I explain. “That’s surprising, because you’re beautiful to me.” I bite my lip to try to hide my beaming smile. By the smirk that’s forming on his face, it’s not working. 

“Thank you. You’re kinda cute, too.” He cocks his eyebrow with a question on his face. “Cute?” I nod my head. “Yeah, cute. What’s wrong with cute?” He shakes his head with a smile. “I haven’t been called cute since I was a teenager.” I shrug my left shoulder and say, “Well, I’m a teenager. My vocabulary isn’t as broad as yours yet.” “If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” “Seventeen. How old are you?” Dean all of a sudden looks defeated. 

“I’m forty seven. Gosh, you’re young. I didn’t think you were that young.” Oh, God is this all over because of my age? “Eh, nothing wrong with being young. I’ll be what you older people call an adult in less than a year.” “Three of my kids are older than you.” Was that meant to be said out loud? I don’t think that was meant to be said out loud. But an idea pops in my head before I can dawn on it anymore. “You wouldn’t be so torn about my age if you didn’t like me,” I say in a harsh whisper. He stops badgering himself in his head to look up at me, alarmed. “It’s not that, it’s just_” “Just what?” He gulps audibly. I’ve got him right where I want him.

“If I say it, then I’m going to feel even worse. I think you already know,” he says in a whisper, as if he’s scared that someone will hear. “Why would you feel worse?” I ask. “You’re too young,” Dean repeats. “Eh, you just got a little time on me.” “Thirty years.” Whoa, I didn’t even do the math yet. He was a full adult when I was born. “Who cares? You thought I was older, and I thought you were younger. We both thought wrong.” I tell him.

“Yeah, well.” My eyes scan the crowd for my mom. She’s all the way across the room. “So you’re just gonna stop this whole conversation because we found out each other’s age?” I ask. Dean looks down, conflicted. He’s thinking too much. “I don’t want to…” He trails off. I perk up, he’s run out of arguments. “Then let’s not. So you said that you have kids? How many?” A sad smile shows on his face. Hope he’s not married. Well, only half of me hopes for that. 

“I have four. The oldest, Brendan, is twenty eight. He holds a share in my company,” he says. But of course, I interrupt him. “What’s your company?” “Mavs Incorporated. We’re an electricity supplier. It was my dad’s company. And uh, I have twin daughters, they’re twenty three. Valerie and Valencia. They’re just dolls. And my son, Marlon is sixteen. A year younger than you. He likes to play baseball. Broke records at his high school.” I smile. “Your house must be filled with his trophies,” I say. He looks down sadly. “He-he doesn’t live with me. My ex-wife took him in the divorce.” 

I can tell that that divorce did a number on him, because he just out of no where looked older than his forty seven years. But, I don’t have time to dwell on it because Dovett is heading our way. Shit. “Sorry to interrupt. Oh, he is cute. But, I can’t hold off your mom any longer. She’s looking for you.” I silently thank him and turn towards Dean. “You like talking to me right, Dean?” I ask. He nods his head vehemently. So cute. “You have a phone?” He nods again. “Gimme it.” Dean hands over his phone without a second thought. 

I punch in my number and hand it back to him. “You know what, you’re pretty shy, so gimme your number, too.” I get out my phone and he tells me his number. Even makes me repeat it back to him. I reluctantly stand up and say, “If I don’t hear from you in the next week, you’ll hear from me,” I tell him. He nods his head with a smile. “Okay,” he says in a low gravelly voice. I hear Dovett’s breath hitch. “Bye, Dean. Go sign some checks,” I say as my friend and I walk away. 

“His voice is so sexy. And he’s not bad to look at either,” Dovett says as we get closer to the crowd. “And you said he was weird.” “I still think so. But at least he’s a hot weirdo.” 

“Where were you for the night?” Mom asks as we pack up the equipment. “Serving people with food and wine, not punches,” I lie, kind of. “I didn’t see you for the whole night.” She’s picking, I hate when she picks. “Mom, I finished a job that I didn’t want in the first place, so for that right there I deserve an award. You’re just not used to not hearing a complaint about me assaulting someone.” She huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s true. Let’s get home.” I let out a sigh of relief when she walks to the back door without another word. 

We walk in to the house to see Renee on the couch watching the first Michael Myers. Who watches that in the dark? By themselves? My creepy little sister, that’s who. Her tied up braids move when she turns our way. “Oh, wow. Bryn came back with you. I thought she would be in the back of a squad car by now,” she teases. “You’re the one who’s watching Halloween in May. Trust me, I think we should be more worried about you in that department than me,” I snort. 

“We’ve been in the house for less than ten seconds and y’all are already arguing. That’s a new record,” mom says as she walks past me to the kitchen. Renee sticks her tongue out at me and like the mature adult that I will be, I roll my eyes and follow my mom into the kitchen. 

“So, would you count the gala as a success?” I ask as we store the equipment in the pantry. She smiles. “Yes, I would. Got paid seventy eight hundred bucks for it.” I whistle. “Do I get a cut of that?” I ask. “Since you did become one of my employees for the night, I guess I’ll give you one hundred.” My face lights up with that. I give her a kiss then run up stairs to my room.

I unlock my phone as soon as I plop on my bed to look at Dean’s number. Damn, I should’ve gotten a picture of him. Well, if he calls me soon, I’ll be able to see him anyway. Is it weird that I’m thinking about this guy so much? Ah, who cares? He’s probably doing the same damn thing as we speak. A long yawn escapes my mouth, and soon I’m fast asleep.


	2. Friends Are Good For Something. What? I Don't Know

“He sounds like a rapist,” Benny says as he viciously maims his sandwich. “He sounds beautiful,” Lily dreams, totally unaware when Benny steals her last cookie. “Thank you, Lily, for being on my side. And he’s not a rapist. He’s just a really shy guy. If you meet him, you’ll see,” I confirm. “Oh, I’ve seen him before. He handles the city’s electricity.” “But you’ve never met him.” I poke Benny’s nose with my French fry. “I don’t wanna.”

My phone starts buzzing; a smile is on my face immediately when I see who it is. I unlock my phone to read the text.

Hi, it’s Dean. I didn’t want you to think that you weren’t going to hear from me.   
“Oh, gawd. Is that him, now?” Benny asks dramatically. “Yes, it is. Now hush,” I mumble as my fingers fly across the keyboard. 

LOL, what I picked up from you yesterday, I thought I was gonna have to get you. So what’s up?

“Should we leave you and your phone alone?” Benny asks. I playfully send a glare his way. “Is that jealousy I hear, Benito?” Lily asks in a sing-song voice. Benny makes as if he’s going to throw up. “Please, I got girls coming my way all the time… that are my age.” Benny retorts. I roll my eyes and tell him, “He’s cute, rich, and shy. Just the way I like them.” “Hah! Gold digger, since when was that you’re type?” “…Yesterday.” My phone buzzes.

I’m in a meeting.

A meeting, on a Sunday? I didn’t know you rich people worked so hard.

Just because of you making me smile during an important meeting, everyone is now looking at me like I’m crazy.

I smile and type, Good.

What are you doing? Dean sends.

I look between my two friends. They’re arguing over if nacho cheese Doritos are better than Cool Ranch Doritos. 

Listening in on a very important debate between my friends.

Really? What’s the debate about?

Which flavor of Doritos are better. I send.

Oh yes. Do they know about me?

Yeah, I told them about you. Feel special?

Very. Tell them I said hi, and that nacho cheese is better. Cool ranch is too salty.

 

I grin and tell them both what he said. Benny has the smallest smile on his face. “You can tell a lot about a person by their flavor of Doritos. He made the right choice,” he says. 

Lily rolls her eyes and mumbles, “His cool points just went down in my book.”

My friend Benny thinks better of you now because of your choice. I send him.

This must have been very important to them.

Yeah, but you know what would make you even cooler?

Please tell me. I smirk. He has a sense of humor.

If you’d come see me.

When he doesn’t text back right away, I get back into the conversation with Benny and Lily. “You guys are finally done sexting?” Benny asks. I roll my eyes and leave a tip before we walk out of the restaurant. “He just hasn’t texted me back yet,” I huff. 

“So what happens if your mom finds out about this guy?” Lily asks as we walk down Michigan Avenue. “Is texting someone wrong, hmm?” I ask inquisitively. She rolls her eyes so hard, I think they’re gonna fall out of her head. She’s always been the dramatic one. “You know what I mean, Bryn. I don’t think she would approve of you talking to a guy that’s got thirty years on you.” I shrug my shoulders. She’s got a point.

“Well, that’s why this is going to be our little secret. And definitely do not let this news slink over to Renee.” “Trust us; we wouldn’t talk to her on her good days. She’s the only person on this earth that actually scares me,” Benny says, looking traumatized. He’s probably thinking of that time Renee screamed and threatened to kill him slowly when he accidentally walked into her room instead of mine. It was pretty funny. My phone buzzes.

Sorry, the meeting was ending. I had to pay somewhat of attention. But I’d feel more comfortable if you came to see me. Dean texts back.

I think back to my neighborhood, my mom, friends… Renee. Yeah, it’ll probably be better if I go see him. But, I wanna mess with him for a bit. 

What, are you trying to do, kidnap me and keep me for yourself in one of your beach house basements?

I get a call in less than a minute later with Dean’s name lighting up. I smirk, because I know what’s going to happen. Lily and Benny walk ahead of me to give me privacy. Humph, they’re actually acting like good friends.

“Hello?” I answer.

“If you felt that I was trying to harm you in any way, I’m sorry. That’s not my intention. It’s just that I don’t want to risk someone seeing us if I go to your neighborhood. Not that I’m ashamed to be seen with you, it’s for right now, the age difference will be looked down upon. I’m sorry, again,” Dean rambles. When he’s done, I can hear him breathing heavily from talking so fast. It’s cute. 

“Dean, I was kidding. You know, a joke. And yes, your suggestion does make more sense. So where would we go?” I ask. He sounds relieved after I’ve explained myself. “I live on Lakeshore Drive, it’s a condo. We can go there if you want. It’s big,” he suggests more calmly. I’ve never been in one of the condo buildings in Downtown, but from what I hear, they’re really nice. I yell for Benny and Lily.

“Yo, don’t we have a day off on Friday?” They nod their heads excitedly, remembering themselves. “What about Friday?” I ask Dean. I can hear papers being ruffled in the background. “Yes, I’m free for Friday. What time do you want to come over?” If I leave too early, my mom would be suspicious of why I’m up so early, but if I leave too late, she won’t let me stay out for too long. But, if I spend the night at Lily’s house Thursday night and tell mom that I won’t be back till Friday night, she won’t think nothing of it. 

“Lily, let me sleep over Thursday, yeah?” I ask her. She nods her head with a smile. “Ooohh, sleep over,” Benny says in a monotone voice. “Shut up, Benito. You’re coming, too,” Lily shoots back. I get back to my conversation.

“I’ll be over at like eleven a.m. Friday morning. That okay?” I ask him. “Yes, that’s great. I’ll text you my address, okay?” “Okay. See ya Friday.” “Bye.” We hang up and in the next few minutes, he texts me the address as promised.

“So, you’re giving up the cat that easily?” Benny asks while we take the train home. I hit his arm then lay my head back onto his shoulder. “I’m not giving up anything, Benny. It’s just two humans hanging out together.” He snorts. “Yeah, that’s what you think.” 

“And what are you implying, Benito?” Lily asks, from the other side of Benny. “Quit it with the full name, will ya? And I’m just speaking from a guy’s point of view. If a piece of ass_” I punch his arm, “If a girl was coming to my place for a full day, then I wouldn’t think we were just gonna spend it on the couch watching, The Notebook.” 

I highly doubt that’s what Dean is thinking. Benny is a douche bag that goes through women like he goes through underwear. “First of all, Benito, you’re a whore. Second of all, Dean is older than you, therefore, classier than you. Third of all, if you seen how people avoided him at the gala as if he were the plague, you wouldn’t be thinking that he just wants to bang bang,” I explain.

Lily giggles and Benny rolls his hazel eyes. “I’m classy,” he mumbles under his breath. Lily and I both scoff at that.

Thursday night comes and I’m in Lily’s bedroom with Benny. “How’s your sister?” Lily asks as her and Benny play Call of Duty on XBOX Live. Personally, I think the game is stupid. But that just might be because I die in the first thirty seconds of playing every time. “Do you care?” I ask from her king sized bed. Her bed is so big that the three of us have no problem sleeping on the bed. “No, not really.” I crack a smile even though she can’t see it. “She’s terrible as usual. She gave me a look as if she knew that I was up to something.” 

“What was the look?” Benny asks, killing another virtual soldier from his team. Lily pushes him. I think Lily cares more about the game than he does. “Like this,” I say as I narrow my eyes. They both turn around to look, and their eyes widen before they go back to the game. “Yeah, she definitely knows something is going on.” Lily says as she kills someone from the other army. “I always knew that she had a sixth sense,” Benny adds. 

“Yeah, well she’s thirteen. It’s not like she can really go anywhere by herself. And plus, she doesn’t have a day off tomorrow,” I reassure. “We didn’t say that she was gonna follow you. She just knows something. Were you acting weird?” Lily asks. “She has a sixth sense, Lily. You don’t need to act suspicious for her to think something different,” Benny says as he shoots someone from his team again. Lily finally virtually kills Benny to keep him from killing off the rest of their team. He flicks her off. “Let’s hope,” I mumble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review and tell me how I'm doing. It'd mean so much to me :)


	3. Still Trying To Figure Out What Friends Are For

The next morning, I wake up to Lily’s arm on my throat, my foot on Benny’s back, his foot on my hair, and groggy. Why does this always happen? I detangle myself from them before they try to latch onto me again. When I’m fully out of the bed, I look at the clock. It reads, twelve thirty-seven in the afternoon. Oh, shit! I should’ve set that damn alarm. I pick up my phone to see two missed calls and a text message all from Dean. The text reads: Hi, just wanted to see if you were still coming. I know you’re a teen so you just might’ve over slept. Well, call me when you get this.

Aww, he knows me already. Oh, yeah, he has kids. This might’ve happened to him before. Whatever. I quickly dial his number and he picks up on the second ring. “Hi, Tambryn,” he says cheerily shy. I smile and say, “Hey, my bad. I overslept. I’ll be over there in about an hour, okay?” “Okay. Don’t eat, though. I have food.” “Ohh, rich people food.” He chuckles. “If that’s what you wanna call it.” “I do, I’ll call you when I’m outside your building, okay?” “Okay, see you then.” We hang up and I dash to Lily’s bathroom where I first brush my teeth, hop in the shower, and then slip on my high waist shorts and tank top. 

I start to wake Benny so he can drop me off at Dean’s. “You can’t take the train?” He garbles. I roll my eyes while shaking his shoulder. Lily’s slowly waking now. “Not when you have a fully working car right outside. C’mon, I’ll give you gas money,” I bargain. He mumbles something under his breath about being a good friend and lazy people, but he gets up nonetheless. 

“So this is the place?” Benny whistles. We all look up at the building that Dean gave me the address to. I start climbing out the car. “Yep, so see ya guys later.” They both pull me back in. “No, no, no. We’re not leaving you until we see him,” Lily says, the most serious I’ve ever seen her in my life. “Wow, now you guys care,” I mumble as I dial Dean’s number. “We always cared, Sweetums,” Benny coos. 

“Hi, you’re down stairs already?” Dean asks. “Yeah, I’m here. Come down,” I say. 

He comes down a few minutes later with black sweat pants on and a t-shirt. Wow, I didn’t know rich people owned such casual clothes. “Oh. My. God. He is the hottest old guy ever,” Lily says from the backseat. “He doesn’t look that good,” Benny snorts. I roll my eyes and start to get out of the car, my two friends follow suit. When Dean sees us, he walks over nervously. 

“H-hi, Tambryn,” He says shyly. Is it normal for someone to be this nervous? I don’t know, but he looks hot when he is. “Hey, Dean. These are my somewhat friends. Benny and Lily,” I introduce. Lily lends out her hand first. “Hi, I’m Lily. Bryn’s bestest friend in the whole wide world,” she says. Benny and I both snort, but Dean shakes her hand with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Lily. I’m Dean Maverick.” He turns to Benny afterwards with a wayward look. 

“Benny, best male friend since the third grade.” Oh my god. He’s looking for a pissing contest with the wrong person. Dean nods his head with a smile, though. “You all have been friends for awhile then. I’m Dean, by the way, nice to meet you.” “Okay, you’ve met him, I’m safe. You two can go now,” I say while lightly pushing Dean towards his building. They all wave at each other one last time before we disappear into the giant building.

“So what floor do you live on?” I ask when we get to the elevators. “The thirty ninth,” he replies. My eyebrows raise. From the HGTV channel, I’ve learned that the higher the floor, the higher the price. Yeah, this guy is definitely rich. 

My inner thought is proven when he opens up the door to his condo. My breath is taken away. This has to be the biggest condo on the face of the earth. I didn’t know that condos could have an upstairs! “So are you hungry?” He asks timidly. I reconfigure my thoughts to form a proper sentence. “Uh, yeah. Starving, actually,” I say. He nods slightly with a smile as he leads me to the kitchen. “Take a seat, I’ll make us something.” I take a seat at the huge island/bar thingy. The chairs swivel, the kid in me is about to come out. 

“Wow, where’s the butler? The maid?” I ask surprised. He snorts as he gets the ingredients from the double door stainless steel fridge. “My maid’s on vacation,” he mumbles. “And the butler?” I press. He makes eye contact this time. “Never had one. You get your information about rich people from movies don’t you?” I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, that too. And from catering for them. All they talk about are their butlers from Britain.”

“My grandmother had a butler from Britain when I was a kid,” Dean mutters. I point at him with a smile. “See?! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! What was his name?” He shrugs his shoulders. “Can’t remember, so long ago.” I walk over to where he is at the counter with a bunch of ingredients laid out in front of him. “So whatcha makin’?” I ask. He looks down at me with a smirk. Wow, I didn’t notice until now how tall he is. 

“A rich people dish. You’ll have to wait and see,” he jokes. I try to hide my laugh, but it doesn’t work. “Well, can I at least help?” He looks down at me with a slight frown. “But then you’d find out what I’m cooking,” Dean says softly. I roll my eyes with a small smile on my face, but nod my head anyway. “Fine, I’ll just look around your ginormous condo. Jesus, this place is bigger than my house!” I see a smirk on his face as I walk away. 

I start to walk into his living room where a big flat screen T.V. sits on a grey fireplace. There are tons of pictures that are set there. On the table behind the sectional, too. The pictures are of his family, I’m guessing. With the twins that he was talking about being his daughters and the teenage boy being around my age and the other son that is helping him hold a sign with the company’s name on it, in front of the company. His boys are cute, his girls are beautiful. Damn, not one ugly kid. Phenomenal. “These are your kids on the mantle, right?” I yell over in the next room. He’s chopping something, I hear it stop when he hears me talk, then start back up when I’ve finished. 

“Yeah,” he yells back. “They look hot,” I say. His chuckle comes into the room perfectly. “Thank you, Tambryn. Thank you.” I move over to the next photo and it’s of him, his kids, and a blonde woman that he’s holding by the waist. I look at the kids and notice that they’re younger looking than any other photos, so this must’ve been taken before they divorced. They looked so happy. His ex-wife looks hot. I travel over to the bathroom down the hall and it is fit for a king. He has a glass door shower with granite all over that looks like it can fit about five people and stark black. 

I have the urge to take off my shoes because I don’t want to ruin the floor, it looks that clean. Well, it was kinda those dark gray flat smoothed out rocks that people love to throw into the lake. It still looks pretty expensive, because really, who else gets rocks for floors and it’s actually comfortable? Rich people, that’s who. 

“Hey, Dean! How much does your soap cost?!” I yell. The smell of potatoes being baked wafts in the air. “Seven bucks! It’s just Dove Soap! No fanciness!” He yells back. I look over at the hand towel that’s hanging from its holder. I don’t recognize the maker. I smirk. “But everything else is a second mortgage!” There’s a pause. “Well… yes,” Dean answers. 

“How many parties have you had in this place?” I ask as I walk down to a room that I’m guessing is a guest room because of the size and sterility. Everything’s a white and cream color. The full size bed is cream colored, the dresser is white, the shaggy rug is cream colored, the chair in the corner is white, and the walls are white. I back out of it before the room swallowed me up and turned me white. 

“Dinner’s almost ready!” Dean tells me. “You want me to come to the table?” I ask. “Yeah, come on.” When I get back to the kitchen, he is walking into the dining room carrying two of the reddest lobsters I’ve ever seen. I whistle. “You pulled out all the stops for a girl.”

He turns around to look at me with a smile on his face. “I was just in the mood for lobster,” he says as he motions for me to go back into the kitchen. I look over at the granite island to see baked chopped red potatoes, melted butter, and a tossed colorful salad. I grab the serving dish holding the potatoes and bring it back to the table while he takes the salad and butter. “I hope it’s not one of those meals that look good, but aren’t really good. Cuz my cousin, Lisa, does that all the time. Her food looks good as hell, but tastes like shit. Fools me every time,” I ramble. 

He gives me a nervous looking smile. “I hope not either. Here, take a seat,” he says as he pulls out the leather seat for me. As graciously as I can, I take a seat. I hear him quietly snicker as he walks back to his seat. “What’s so funny, Dean?” I ask. He shakes his head with a slight smile on his face as he begins to pile food onto my plate. 

When he passes my plate back to me, it’s piled high with food. If I were any other girl, I’d be offended by the serving size, but since I’m going to eat every single morsel, I’ll save him the speech. When Dean has put food on his plate, he sits back and looks at me. I pick up my fork hesitantly. “What?” I ask. He looks alarmed. “Eat, I wanna see you take your first bite,” Dean says. Oh. I break open the lobster as tasteless as possible and dip the piece in butter, then pop it in my mouth. It literally melted in my mouth. No, I’m serious, the lobster meat melted in my mouth and I loved every single part of it. 

Dean’s face lights up with my reaction. “I was hoping you’d like it,” he tells me as he starts to dig into his own plate. “So how’d you learn to cook?” I ask with a mouth full of lobster and potatoes. “My mom used to be a chef. She wouldn’t let any of us leave her household with out learning how to cook,” he says. I nod my head, still stuffing my face. I’m too much of a teenager to care how ridiculous I look. “That sounds like my mom. You said ‘us’, you have siblings?” I ask. “Yes, two older sisters.” 

“Really? Did they dress you up all girly, Dean?” I tease. He tries to hide his smile, but fails. I’m glad he does. “A couple of times. Thank God, there aren’t any pictures,” he mumbles. I pout. I would’ve loved to see those pictures. “I have a little sister.” He looks up from his food. “Is that so? Are you nice to her? You probably aren’t.” I fake offense. “I have you know that she starts every single fight that we get into. That little girl is terrible,” I rant. 

He cracks a dimpled smile at me and says, “That’s exactly what my sisters would say, that I start all the fights when in reality, they started it. That’s what happens to us younger siblings.” I chew obnoxiously while I give him the finger. His smile widens and he gently pushes down my middle finger to be with my other fingers. His hand is warm. 

“You didn’t answer my question from earlier,” I say as we lounge on the giant black sectional. Dean turns his head to look at me after he takes a swig of wine. “And what was that?” “Do you have a lot of parties?” I ask again. He shifts uncomfortably. “N-not really, no.” I sit up. “Why? If I had a big place like this, I’d be flaunting it every chance that I got.” 

“People wouldn’t come to my parties. I’m not as outgoing as you,” he says quickly before filling his mouth with wine. I reach over and shake his arm, almost making him spill his wine. “Sorry. But you have to try. We should throw a party for you. It’d be fun. I’ll cater.” Dean snorts. “You mean your mom will cater.” I roll my eyes. “Details. But I’d still be there.” “Didn’t you say that you were filling in for someone when we met?” I narrow my eyes, nodding. “Then what if that person comes back?” I shrug my shoulders. “Easy, then I’d tell them not to work that night.” He looks at me a minute longer with a smug look on his face. 

He has the most beautiful color of eyes. They make him look younger than his forty seven. I snap out of it when he turns and looks away. “I’m gonna make you do it one day, Mr. Maverick. Mark my words,” I say as I lean back onto my side of the couch. “Hmm, one day,” he mutters under his breath. It seems as if there’s a double meaning to that, but I’m too lazy to get into details.

“Ask me a question,” I tell him when we sit on his balcony. It took him awhile to even get me out here. It’s so high up that you can see all of downtown and can’t see any people on the ground. It’s scary, okay? But, I made a deal with him, he gives me a glass of wine and I’ll come out with him. Relaxation is key, my friend.

“Like what?” Dean asks as he takes a sip of wine. We’re sharing a glass because he wants to insure that I don’t get drunk. Cue eye roll. I shrug my shoulders. “Anything.” He sits back into the lawn chair, thinking. In the meantime, I have a staring contest with the Buckingham Fountain ways away. “Where do you go to school?” My head rolls over to where Dean is sitting nonchalantly as if he didn’t just ask the most boring question in the world. “What?” I turn his way fully. “You get to ask me anything and that’s what you come up with? What school I go to?” I say. 

He shrugs his shoulders with a smirk on his face, looking away. “You did say anything,” he mutters. “If you have to know, I go to Chicago High School for the Arts.” That peaks his interest. “Really, what do you go there for?” He asks. “Dance,” I answer as I take the glass from him and take my own sip. “What kind of dance?” I swallow then set the glass down. “You wanna see?” He nods his head and follows me back into the living room. 

I crouch down and start to remember the new dance that Mrs. Budois showed us. Dean takes a seat in front of me and waits for me to start. It’s interpretive dance where I play the wind. I know, I second guess the things that go through Mrs. Budois’ mind, too. 

I breathe hard and try to gauge Dean’s reaction to the performance. He starts clapping seconds later. “That was great, Tambryn. What were you playing, the wind?” My eyebrows rise. “How did you know that?” He shrugs. “My kids’ aunt was a dancer on broad way and I was forced to sit through her performances,” he explains. 

“It’s your turn to ask me a question.” Dean says as he slides a glass of water across the granite island to me. The question I want to ask is personal, but it’s the only one that I can think of for some reason. “Why did you get a divorce?” I’m nosey, I know this. The smile that was on his face has been replaced with a sad frown. “I’m sorry, I don’t have a filter. I’m so sorry. Do you want me to leave? ‘Cause I can leave,” I say.

“No, no. I don’t want you to leave. She just really…hurt me,” Dean tells me. I sit back into the swivel chair that I was ready to bolt from. “If you want to talk about it, we can. We don’t have to, dude,” I reassure. He nods his head and takes a deep breath. I sip on my water awkwardly, thinking if I should just leave. “After twenty five years of marriage, she finally felt that she had enough of me being too ‘soft’, as she put it,” Dean explains. “What do you mean?” I ask timidly, still doubting if I should say anything at all. He shrugs his shoulders.

“She felt that I was too nice, that I let people walk over me too much. After all that time, she finally found out that she didn’t like my character.” Wow, his ex-wife sounds like a bitch. “But I shouldn’t be too bitter about it. I did get four wonderful kids out of it.” “Well, at least you don’t have to see her that much, right?” “Not really. We still have an underage kid between us, which means that I’ve got to see her sometimes. But hopefully after Marlon’s older, I won’t have to see her at all.” He’s been quiet for awhile. I try to think of something to get him out of his rut. 

“You got any ice cream?” I ask. “Yes, a bunch in the fridge, take what you want,” Dean points to the fridge. I open the fridge, and lo and behold, tubs and tubs of different kinds of expensive ice cream. Okay, not that expensive. Just the Haagen Dazs ice cream. I’m cheap, so that’s expensive to me. I ram my brain for something that’d ease his pain while I set the green tea Haagen Dazs down between us on the counter top with two spoons. I hand him one. He takes it with a smile. 

“My dad left us when my sister was two,” Dean looks up when he hears my words, with some ice cream at the corner of his mouth. When he notices, he licks his lips, embarrassed, but wanting me to continue. He’s so adorable, reminds me of a puppy. “He left his family for a twenty-three year old college student. I met her once. Dumb as rocks, I’ll tell ya that much. Said that he wasn’t ready for a family. After two kids, the fucker decides that he didn’t want a family! So he left my mom with eighty bucks and a ‘good riddance’. So, I feel you. You’re not the only one who knows about bad timing,” I tell him. Dean takes a few more spoonfuls with a face that reads that he’s thinking, I’m guessing.

“And here I thought you were just a sassy, suburban girl,” Dean jokes. I crack a smile back at him before sticking my tongue out at him. “High five for surviving the people that fucked us over?” I ask with my palm in the air. He looks at me then at my palm, a smile forming on his face. Dean high fives me with a short squeeze before he lets my hand go. “We sure did survive. And please with the language, Tambryn.” I roll my eyes. “Are you my dad now?” His face loses it’s mirth a bit. “Never,” is his response. I narrow my eyes at him, but don’t pursue the conversation. 

I look over at the clock on the wall. It reads ten forty-five. I huff and puff, but soon remove myself from the couch. Dean looks up at me with question. “I have to go home,” I explain. His eyes shift down to the floor. Is that disappointment I see? “Oh, I forgot,” it’s almost a whisper. I hardly catch it. “Why so glum?” I ask. Dean shakes his head and stands up as well, towering over me. Man, he’s tall. “I’m not glum. So do you have a ride home? It is a bit late to be taking public transportation.” I shrug my shoulders. “I’ve done it before. Even later sometimes.” Dean shakes his head vehemently. “No, I wouldn’t feel right with throwing you out and into a train. Anything could happen. I’ll take you home,” he says while patting himself down for what I’m thinking for his keys. It’s my turn to shake my head. “No, seriously, it’s okay. You don’t have to do that,” I insist. 

Dean looks under a couch cushion and comes up with his car keys. “Tambryn, I’m not letting you get on a train this late. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll drop you off down the street so your mother won’t see me. Deal?” He asks with his eyebrows raised. I purse my lips thinking. It is a free ride home. Might as well just take it. “What a doll,” I say as I head towards the front door. I can hear him chuckling, following me. 

“Jeez, even your car garage looks better than my house. When does it end with you people?!” I yelp, throwing my hands in the air. It’s a bit dark in the underground garage, but I can still see the clean concrete floors showcasing the most expensive cars I’ve ever been in physical contact with. “I bet your house is beautiful,” Dean assures while walking ahead of me to his car. “Wait! Let me guess which car is yours, yeah?!” I say. He shrugs his shoulders with a smile. “Go ahead.” I look around at the display of cars and then back at him.

“You own the city’s electricity so you have to have more than one car. Am I right?” I ask. Dean nods his head. And even in the dull light I can see the faint blush marking his cheeks. I look back at the cars quickly, not wanting to be caught staring. There are three Acuras, one Bugatti, a 2013 Lexus, five Phantoms, and an all black Camaro. Humph, too easy. I turn back to Dean with my answer in mind. “You own that Camaro over there for starters, that bangin’ ass Lexus, and let’s throw in one of those Phantoms just for fun.”

His jaw is almost touching the floor, I’m guessing I was right. “You got everything right,” Dean says when he finally collects himself. A wide grin spreads across my face. “I know. Now can we take the Camaro, please? I said please.” Dean nods his head with a smirk on his face, his dimples are showing. The car beeps as he unlocks it with the button on his key. 

“Dude, you gotta let me drive this thing one day,” I say as I rub the smooth dashboard of the car as he drives. “Got a license?” Dean asks. My head whips around to him. “Why, of course, Dean. I’m seventeen. They do teach Driver’s Ed in schools now, old man,” I quip. Dean smirks with a short smile on his face, still looking at the road. “I didn’t get my license till I was twenty,” Dean remembers. I shake my head. “So can I?” I ask again. “I guess I can let you do that.” I sit back, happily and continue to lead him to my house. 

“That’s my house right there, the blue one with the tree out front. You can park here,” I tell Dean. He parks at the edge of my street and turns off the headlights. “Looks nice, like a cottage,” Dean mumbles, still looking at my house. My brow rises at his words. What? “A cottage, you call my house a cottage?” I say. My words startle him into looking over at me. “Yeah, it looks nice and cozy…blue’s my favorite color.” He says his favorite color in almost a whisper. I can’t help but smile a bit. “You can come in sometime.” Dean looks up at me, smug faced. “That’d be nice.” I snicker at his words before opening the door. “See ya later. And please, don’t hesitate to text me,” I joke. “I won’t, promise.” 

“Had a good time?” Mom asks as I walk into the kitchen. Renee’s sitting at one of the stools, making it known that she’s staring at me. God, she’s creepy. I sit down next to her and watch my mom cook. “Yeah, it was fun,” I reply. “Where’s your bag?” Renee asks accusingly. My head slowly turns her way as I think of something. Shit, I left it at Lily’s house! “I left it at Lily’s on accident.” “How do you leave your bag at a house you were at the whole night?” I’m two seconds away from slapping this bitch. 

“Why are you questioning me as if you’re someone important?” I retort. “Because I am someone important,” she hisses back. I snort. “Mom telling you that doesn’t count.” She’s about to say something else before Mom cuts in. “And you guys wonder why I sleep with earplugs. Tambryn, are you hungry, did you eat?” My mind flicks back to the big meal Dean cooked just a few hours ago. I’m still stuffed. “Nah, we went out to eat before I got dropped off. I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” I swivel out of the chair and make my way up the steps. 

“You’re bag’s still here; do you want me to bring it over?” Lily asks through the phone. “Nah, it’s not that serious, just bring it to school tomorrow,” I tell her. “Okay, so what did you and old guy do, fuck?” I roll my eyes. “What kind of woman do you think I am? But no, we ate food,” she interrupts me. “Oh! You’re favorite thing to do!” I giggle. “I know right? He made us lobster with baked red potatoes and a fancy salad. It was pretty awesome.” 

“Sounds awesome. I wish I could find a guy to do that for me. Next time your mom calls you in to cater, make sure to bring me along,” Lily says. I imagine how that’d go and it’s not pretty. “Yeah… I’ll keep you in mind,” I lie. “You’re lying through your teeth, douche bag.” Lily grumbles amusingly. “You know me so well. Look, I’ll see ya tomorrow, ‘bout to go to sleep. Bye.” “See ya, Bryn.”


	4. Flamenco

“Did ya let him hit?” Benny asks in our dance partnering class. We’re watching Mrs. Budois and her partner, Elton (her son) dance the piece that we have to do. I roll my eyes and hit Benny in the side. He staggers but gets his balance back. “No, you whore. We ate and talked and he drove me home,” I tell him. Benny glares at me for a second more as he rubs at his side. “You know what? I’m gettin’ kinda tired of you calling me a whore. I’m a great person.” I actually giggle at that one. “Psh, what was the name of the girl you banged Saturday and Sunday?” 

He takes time out to think. “I told you, there were two girls.” He holds up two of his fingers as if him saying it wasn’t enough. I cock an eyebrow at him with a slight smile on my face. Benny’s eyes widen and he quickly puts his hand back to his side. “Fuck, I know, I just proved your point,” he says in a quickly hushed tone. 

“Mister and Misses Volteros, would you like to help me instruct the Bachata?” We both turn when we hear his name and our eyes both go wide when we see that it was Mrs. Budois who said it. “Mrs. Budois, Tambryn and I are not kin.” Great, he’s a whore and an idiot. Mrs. Budois wipes her hands uncomfortably on her very large, and oddly shaped, velvet poncho. “I know that, Benito. It was just to get you two’s attention,” she takes her eyes off from ours and addresses the class. “Anyway, I would like for you couples to do is to practice the warm-ups and at the end of the period, I’ll read off what end-of-the-year dance you’ll get.” The end-of-the-year dance is basically our schools final exam where we put on a huge recital.

Benny and I move chest to chest and lock hands, waiting on the melody to start wisping it’s way through the walled speakers. “I can’t believe she called me Mrs. Volteros,” I mumble. “You really think I’m a whore?” The upbeat Latin beat blares through the speakers, right when he lays that on me. Jeez, he’s still on that? “Honestly, you do have hoe tendencies,” I tell him truthfully. I take a step back, he takes one forward. “I mean, is it bad for me loving the female body so much?” He whines. I roll my eyes. Benny takes a step backward, and I take a step forward.

“There’s nothing wrong with loving the female anatomy. It’s just that you enjoy too many females’ anatomy,” I tell him truthfully. We both move to the right then left. “Eh, I see what you’re sayin’,” he says. “So…are you going to stop?” I ask. Benny flashes the biggest smile he owns. “Not until I take every girl’s virginity in this town. Which reminds me, it’s almost your time, Tambryn.” I hit his shoulder. “Why would I give you the honor of doing something so special?” Benny rolls his eyes amusingly. “Yeah, you sound like a virgin. Tambryn, it’s not that special.” “For girls, it is. At least it’s special to me.” Benny stares at me for a second then shrugs his shoulders, agreeing.

“Okay, well lemme ask you something. If it were between me and Maverick, who would you bone?” He asks. Ugh, I can’t stand him sometimes. “Dean.” His eyes light up at my answer. “I knew it! I guarantee you let him deflower you by your birthday.” My eyes widen. My birthday’s in December and it’s May now. “Wanna bet?” I dare. Benny’s eyes narrow on me. “How much are we talkin’?” Am I seriously about to put a price on my own virginity?! “Three hundred bucks,” is my answer. His eyes widen with surprise. “Sure. I guess you can pay for my new J’s in full.” I roll my eyes at his overly confident answer, and then we both finish the dance successfully.

As promised, at the end of the class, we all get our assigned end-of-the-year dance and when the recital/exam begins. We both read out loud, “The Flamenco.” Fuck, she gave us this on purpose! The Flamenco is an old Spanish-style folk dance that’s very…sensual. We both whip around to see a huge satisfied smile on Mrs. Budois’ face. “I thought you two would like this dance.” Benny ushers us both out of the room before I can say anything.

“She did that shit on purpose, Benito, I’m telling you. Can we even perform this dance without getting expelled?” I ask when we start walking down the hall. “Chill, I know. But there’s nothing we can do about it now. Lily’s still in the music hall, right? We can probably get her to help us pick out the music,” he soothes. I nod my head and follow him into the direction of the music hallway. It’s our lunch period and sometimes Lily spends her time practicing her music in the Music Conservatory.

On our way there, I check my phone for messages. There are two text messages waiting for me, one from Mom and the other from Dean. I read the one from my mom first. 

Gonna be home late. Doubled up on catering events tonight. Try not to kill your sister, love you.

I roll my eyes. Great, a whole night with the demon child herself. I read Dean’s text next.

This might be a bit far-fetched for you, but learning anything in school so far?

His text makes me giggle. 

I text back, Ha-ha. Some people have jokes today. For your information, I have. My dance teacher is a sadist. 

I put my phone away after texting back to see that we’ve arrived in the music wing. “You remember which class she’s in?” I ask. Benny nods his head confidently and brings us to a room on our right, the biggest music room in the school. And sitting at the bottom of the choir steps, is none other than Miss Lily Brooks practicing with her newest violin.

“Hey Blondie, can you take a minute?” Benny nearly shouts across the room. The five other people in the room stop and look at us then at Lily. I smile apologetically at them and continue walking over to my friend. Lily’s nostrils flare at the nickname, but she sets her violin down anyway. “What, Benito?” She asks, putting excessive emphasis on his full name. It gets the reaction out of him that she was looking for, because his jaw tenses harshly. I take over from there.

“Mrs. Budois gave us our end-of-the-year dance and due date.” Lily’s eyes brighten as she listens to me. “Oh, cool. What did ya guys get?” Too embarrassed to say the name of the dance, I pass her the paper. A mischievous smile starts up on her face. 

“I’m not a dance expert or anything, but isn’t this the dance that’s even freakier than the Tango?” She asks while handing the paper back to me. It’s terrible that that’s how she remembers it. “Very close, yeah. But we came here to ask if you could help us with the music,” Benny chimes in. Her face lightens up even more as an idea comes to her.

“Oh! That’d be great. I’m falling a bit behind in my Guitar Technique class and this would be perfect to bump up my grade. You know, I actually have a Flamenco guitar. I’ll practice a bit tonight with my dad and let you hear what we come up with tomorrow, that sound good?” Sometimes I think that this girl is an angel sent from Jesus himself. “Thanks, Lily. That’d be great,” I say. “Awesome, I’ll go tell Mr. Harford now,” Lily then gets up and heads toward a young looking teacher. He must be new; I’ve never seen him before. 

My phone vibrates and I open up the text. It’s from Dean of course.

And why is that?

I quickly type out my response before putting my phone away. 

Since my major is dance, at the end of the year, we always have to perform a dance that’s kind of like a final exam. She gave Benny and I the Flamenco dance -.-

“Texting the old guy again?” Benny teases. I push him playfully and say, “No, I’m texting Dean.” Benny looks at me with a straight face and says, “Yeah, the old guy.”   
Lily is heading our way before I’m able to say anything. “Mr. Harford thought that this would be a wonderful way for me to bring up my grade!” Lily exclaims. “Nice, can we practice at your house tomorrow?” Benny asks Lily. She nods her head vigorously. 

As we walk down the hall toward the cafeteria, I get another text. 

I just Googled what the Flamenco was. It’s more scandalous than the Tango. So when is this “exam” due?

I always laugh when I hear or see the word scandalous, it’s a funny word. 

It’s due June 18th, giving us exactly one month to practice. It’s a big thing at this school, family and friends are all gonna be here, I text back.

“Aww, you were talking to Dean?” Lily asks as I put my phone away and catch up to the two. “At least someone knows his name,” I quip and look at Benny. He shakes his head with a not so masculine hair flip. 

“Yeah, I was telling him about the Flamenco dance,” I tell her. “Oh, was he jealous that I’m gonna be dancing with his main woman?” Benny asks. I cover his face with my hand and answer his question while looking at Lily. “I’m not anyone’s woman. And he wasn’t jealous at all.” Lily gives me a soft smile. “Yeah, well, if we saw him face-to-face we might’ve seen him green with envy.” 

Lily and I both roll our eyes. “I’m beginning to think that you have a little crush on Mr. Maverick here. The way you keep bringing him up in every conversation.” My blonde friend teases. Benny’s face twists to something of pure disgust. “I know you haven’t met every girl that I’ve boned, but please understand that I only date things with vaginas.” I’m confused. “Since when do you date?” I ask. Benny thinks about it for a second. “I only fuck things with vaginas,” he clarifies. Lily shakes her head and mumbles, “You have a dirty, dirty mouth, kid.” 

We arrive to the packed cafeteria a few seconds later. “Did one of you guys bring your lunch?” I ask. They both raise their hand. I roll my eyes. “Well someone has to go get the juice.” They both look at me expectantly. I can’t believe this. “You guys both suck,” I say as I walk towards the lunch line. 

The food here isn’t that bad, it’s the lines that kill me, which is why we bring our lunch. I get at the end of the long ass line, and start scheming to cut people. My phone buzzes. 

I’m sure you’ll do fine.

I text him back, Easy for you to say. You’re not partnered up with the laziest womanizing boy there is. 

Benny can work his ass off when we’re in school. But after, sweet baby Jesus, it’s next to impossible to make him do anything related to school. Last year, Lily and I had to do all his class work just so he could be able to move on to the next grade. 

Benny’s a womanizer? He doesn’t look like one. This may sound weird, but if you need any help, I wouldn’t mind.

I smile at his text. He’s always so worried about me misunderstanding him. I guess others are always misunderstanding him. “Who’s Dean?” The voice startles me and I look to my right. Shit! I thought this douche bag transferred to another school! It’s Jacob Smith, my ex-boyfriend. He’s an ex because he cheated on me with a bunch of different girls. Wanna know why? Because I wouldn’t have sex with him. Dumb ass. 

Whatever, Benny beat him up and Lily spit in his Gatorade. “It’s none of your business who Dean is. Why are you looking at my texts?” I snap back. A small smirk spreads across his stupid face. “It just caught my eye, I guess,” he answers. “Well don’t let it happen again,” I say before turning around. “C’mon, Bryn, are you gonna treat me like this forever? It was a mistake.” I count how many people that are in front of me. Seventeen freaking people and one cashier. 

“You’re gonna ignore me now?” Jacob tries again. I whip around, and I hate that I have to look up to make eye contact with him. That smirk is still on his face. “I have every right to ignore you. You cheated on me with God knows how many girls and wanted only one thing from me. So what else is there to talk about?” I retort. That smirk only turns into a full blown smile. “Like I said, people make mistakes. Forgive and forget, right?” “And what makes you think I haven’t forgiven?” I ask. 

“Because your hands are in cute little fists,” Jacob says while pointing to my fists. I take a deep breath and unclench my hands. “I just don’t want anything to do with you. And you say it was a mistake, but people don’t repeat the same mistake over and over again. So just leave me alone, Jacob.” The smile leaves his face finally. Yes, I finally hit it where it hurts. “Whatever, we’ll talk later, Bryn,” before I can say anything, the douche bag walks off. I take this chance to cut the line. I grab three Arizona Iced Tea bottles and head to where my friends are. 

“Guess which rodent just bit my foot,” I say as I pass out the juices. “Benny’s been sitting here the whole time,” Lily says in the most innocent voice. Benny stops chewing and slowly turns toward our blonde friend with narrowed eyes. I’d laugh, but with the situation at hand, I can’t. 

“Jacob Smith,” I tell them. Their eyes widen at the name. Benny stands up so fast that his chair falls over. “Where is he? I’ll kill him!” Lily places her hand on his shirt sleeve, and pulls until he grabs his chair and sits down. 

“I thought he left,” Lily says. I shrug my shoulders, sipping my juice. “We all did.” “God, he’s like a fucking parasite you can’t get rid of,” Benny grumbles. It’s touching to see that Lily and I are the only females that he actually cares about. 

“Well, what did he say?” Lily asks. I roll my eyes, going back to the memory. “He was just saying how he made a mistake and that I should forgive him. Oh! And he asked me who Dean was,” I tell them. “How does he know who Dean is?” Benny asks. “I was texting him and I guess he saw his name on top of my phone when he was peeking.” 

“Who does that?” I nod my head and say, “I know right? Anyway, I sent him on his way after telling him to leave me alone.” “Doesn’t seem like him to take direction that easy. He’s not done.” Even though I want to deny what Lily is saying, I can’t, because I know that he’s not done ruining my life. 

“Ugh, I’m so disgusted right now, I’ve lost my appetite,” Benny says as he takes a bite of his pizza. Lily and I both roll our eyes at him. I take this chance to text Dean back. 

That can be a good thing, or a bad thing. Do you know how to dance?

“So Benito, do you have any past flings that you just can’t get rid of?” Lily asks. Benny looks up at the ceiling, thinking. “Yeah, you guys remember Crystal? That bitch still stalks me on Instagram. I’ve thought about deleting it so many times just because of her, I’m scared, guys.” “I hope you do delete it. Your pictures annoy me,” Lily mumbles. Benny looks hard at Lily before placing his middle finger centimeters from her face. “That’s what I think about your opinion, Lillian.” Lily looks surprised. 

“Yeah, you’re not the only one who knows people’s real name,” Benny says while picking up his pizza. My phone vibrates. 

Somewhat. You can teach me it, though.

I type out my reply and start in on my lunch. 

I hope you can keep up, because I might need to use you more than Benny. Can I come over soon then?

Benny and Lily are in the middle of a conversation that I really don’t care about. “Hey, I really don’t give a fuck,” they both stop talking and look at me. “Benny are you gonna take this serious? ‘Cuz, you have a problem with doing your work,” I say. He has the nerve to actually look shocked.

“Me, not do my work?” Benny asks as he holds his chest, hurt. Lily and I look at him, bored. He drops the act and nods his head. “Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about,” he mumbles. I roll my eyes, nodding my head. “Great, then I’ll just practice with Dean then,” I say. Benny looks insulted. “Dean? Dean doesn’t even go to this school. He’s actually old enough to be a teacher, hell the principal!” I shrug my shoulders.

“So? He’ll get the gist of what we’re doing and I’ll do the rest,” I argue. My phone vibrates. Benny looks defeated. “Whatever. Just as long as we get it done and it looks good. That’s all that matters.” Good, we finally agree on something. I read the text that just came in. 

Of course you can come over. I’m probably not as active as you, but I can keep up. Hopefully.

I don’t know what he’s talking about. He looked pretty athletic at the ball last week. I text him back; I’m sure you’ll do fine. Can we practice Friday? 

The bell rings, and we all start shoveling food into our mouths. I head in the direction of my history class, eating a bag of chips. 

History is like the only class that I like next to dance. Lily and Benny make fun of how much I love History, (but still make me do their homework in that class), but I really don’t care because it’s just so interesting. With all the propaganda being thrown around in the 1940’s, and the endless conspiracy theories involving every situation, it’s exhaustingly awesome. 

I take my seat in the back of the room and pull out my folder and History book, and phone. What, were you expecting me to sit in the front? Right by the teacher’s desk? Hell no! I still like my space and room to text. My phone vibrates right when the bell signaled for students to be in class. 

Friday’s perfect. Right after school?

I type out a quick approval before class started.  
“Anybody wanna hang out?” Benny asks as we walk towards his beat up blue Volvo. Lily and I both stop in our tracks, and just stare at him. Benny stops a few seconds after when he notices that we’re not following. He turns around to give us a questioning stare. He contorted his face back to normal when he realizes. “Oh right, project! Wanna throw around some ideas, Bryn?” He asks. 

We continue to walk to his car. “Sure, but my mom’s working late so Renee’s gonna be with us,” I tell him. His face scrunches into something ugly. “Ahh, yeah let’s just wait til tomorrow, then.” I roll my eyes. It’s a shame how scared he is of a thirteen-year-old. “We can at least brush up on the Flamenco basics, and then really find out what we’re doing tomorrow at Lily’s,” I reason. He thinks about it for a minute before giving in. 

We drop off Lily and then head to my house. I can tell just by the look on his face that he’s mentally preparing himself to not run away from Renee. “Ya know that she’s a little girl, right? Which means that you’d win in a fight with her,” I tell him as we get closer and closer to my house. Benny shakes his head, making quick eye contact before turning back to the road. 

“No, no, no, Bryn. Your sister likes to play mind games, alright? She’ll have me in the fetal position just by her words,” he says almost frantically. His fear of Renee is absolutely hilarious to me. We pull into my driveway right when Renee is going up the steps to the front door. She looks our way before unlocking the door, going in the house, and locking the door. God, I hate her. I roll my eyes and get out of the car, making my way to the house.

“She saw us, right?” Benny asks. I nod my head. “Of course that big-eyed bitch saw us.” I get my key out and unlock the door. “What was the reason for locking the damn door when you saw us?” I yell when we get in. I don’t know where she ran off to. “Didn’t see ya,” she answers from the kitchen. “Please don’t go argue with her,” Benny pleads. I shake my head, going in the direction of the kitchen. “Yeah right, Renee. We made fuckin’ eye contact.” I open the fridge to find my pizza puff. 

“Whatever. I’m not gonna argue with someone like you,” she says before leaving. I turn to see her retreading figure and give her back my middle finger. “What does that even mean?” Instead of answering my question, Renee walks past Benny and stops. She looks him up and down disgustingly slow before going up stairs. Benny has his eyes closed while this all transpired. I turn around to get back to the situation at hand, my pizza puff. 

“She’s not gonna hurt you, dude. Hungry?” I ask while chewing. He shakes his head, going to the basement. “Nah, I’m gonna go down here to set up. And she was about to hurt me.” Before I can answer, he’s already heading down the steps. I follow after him, shaking my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll put Dean and Tambryn together in the next chapter. I just couldn't think of anything and I noticed that I haven't put anything up in a while.


	5. The Practice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to review when you're done reading! It helps me out a lot to know what my readers are thinking!

I wait outside Dean’s door on Friday. He opens the door quickly after with a smile on his face. He’s wearing something similar to the last time I was here with his deep blue Nautica t-shirt and black sweatpants and socks. “Hi, Tambryn. How are you?” Dean asks as he lets me into the condo. It’s just like I remember. The sun is showing brightly all throughout the place and especially through the skylight. “I’m fine, Dean, how are you doing?” I ask as I set my iPod speakers on the table in the nook area. “Good, good. Are you hungry?” Dean asks while already grabbing things out of the fridge. 

I did have lunch a few hours ago, so I can go for something else. Plus, the guy can cook. “Sure, if it’s no problem.” Gotta stay noble. He shakes his head, looking my way. “There’s no problem. I like cooking for people.” I nod my head, trying to find the song that Lily made for us. When I find it, I press play, and then walk into the kitchen and sit at the island. The introduction of the guitar begins to sound. “Is this the song?” He asks while pulling out fresh cheeses by the bar, basil, pesto, and some other ingredients I don’t recognize. 

“Yeah, my friend Lily made it for us. Whatcha makin’?” He throws soft dough little pasta squares into the water on the stove. “Pasta Sacchettini. It’s really good. Have you had it before?” I shake my head, looking at him work. I might be saying this a lot, but I wouldn’t expect him to be forty seven years old. He looks so…young, like ten years younger or something. He’s just so hot. Yep, I said it. Dean is hot. Never thought I’d admit it, but it’s true. 

I’m staring at his butt before he turns around, then I’m getting an eyeful of his crotch. Wow, let’s not even talk about that right now. I look up to see Dean with a slight smile on his face. “You didn’t hear me, did you?” He asks. I shake my head, apologetically. “No, my bad. Got distracted, I guess,” I mumble. He nods his head, turning back to grate the cheese. “I asked if you’ve ever had it before.” I say no and stand by him to watch him cook. 

“I think it’d be good, though. Need any help?” Dean nods and passes the grater and cheese to me. “Yeah, can you grate the cheese while I make the pesto. So how has your week been?” He says as he starts on something else. Geez, this guy moves fast. “Well just like I predicted, Benny hasn’t been much of a help with the dance,” I look him right in the face, “So, you’re the next best thing.” A smile cracks on his face. “That’s inspirational,” he mumbles. “You’re welcome. So, how was your ridiculously busy adult life-week or something?” My words get jumbled sometimes, don’t judge me.

Dean finds it funny, so that’s all that matters. “My ridiculously busy adult life-week was actually…busy. Closed a few deals, we’re gonna be supplying that new Pink Store on Wacker Drive with electricity, so that’s big. A lot of girls like that brand for some reason, including my daughters; I don’t know why.” I stop grating and turn towards him. 

“Dude, that’s like the best place ever! I have unnecessary fun in there. Why don’t you like it?” I ask. He shrugs his shoulder with amusement in his eyes. “Well first, I’m a man. And second, it seems overpriced for the quality of the fabric. It just seems overrated to me. I seriously don’t understand why you girls shop at that place,” he answers. I shake my head and go back to my duties. “Well, when that Pink on Wacker Drive opens, I’m definitely going.”

When the food is ready, Dean insists on making me a plate, which he stacks with pasta and French bread. Not that I mind. “Are you trying to get me fat?” I ask him when he passes me the heavy plate. He sits down across from me with a bewildered look on his face. “Why would you think that?” He asks. I point to the three pound plate in front of me. “You always stack food on my plate, like last time.” Dean looks down at his own plate, blushing. “My kids used to say the same thing. I dunno, I guess I just want everyone to be satisfied. You ate everything on your plate the last time I cooked.” Well, he’s not lying about that. “I was just wonderin’. You were right to put all that food on the plate, ‘cuz I do eat a lot. Like a lot. Like more than a full grown man. I can probably out eat you,” I say while stuffing my mouth with cheesy pasta. 

Damn this shit is good! Is there anything he can’t cook?! “Do you like it?” Dean asks, looking hopefully at me. I nod my head while stuffing my mouth with more. “Tastes awesome. Best thing I’ve had in my mouth all day.” He gives me a smile before starting in on his food. “You can take the rest home if you want,” he says while pointing to the pot on the stove. “Really?” I ask. Having two greedy teenaged friends, I’m not really used to people offering food to me. “Yeah, I was hoping you’d like it, because I made extra just so you could bring it home.” Wow, this dude really looks out for me. Nobody’s touching this when I get home. Not even dear old Mother. 

“What did you wanna be when you grew up…so long ago?” I ask with a straight face. Dean looks up at me with a look that shows that he’s trying to be serious, but a little smile is peeking through. “You thought you were funny,” he says and I chuckle, “Anyway, I wanted to be my dad.” I set my fork down and look right at Dean. “You wanted to be your dad? Wasn’t he the founder of the business you own now?” I ask. He nods his head, looking serious. 

“Yes. I saw how happy his job made him, and I wanted to be as happy as him.” I nod my head, accepting his answer. “So what about you? What do you wanna be, kid?” Dean retorts. I flip him the bird, only because I know that he’ll hold my hand until my middle finger goes down with my other fingers. I can’t help it; he’s so warm and soft. 

“When I was younger, I wanted to be Helena Bonham Carter,” Dean chokes on his wine before containing himself. A small smirk is on my face from looking at him. 

“Why’s that?” Dean asks while wiping his mouth. My eyes widen at his stupid question. Doesn’t anybody know anything? “Because she’s the most wonderful woman in the world. It’s a fact, it’s been proven. She’s a wonderful actress who’s married to the man that has everything to do with my childhood. And most importantly, her wardrobe is phenomenal. Hell, I still wanna be her.” 

By the end of my little speech about all things Carter, Dean has his fingers clasped under his chin with a quirked eyebrow, staring right at me. I sink slowly back into my chair because of the look. “I met her once at a fundraiser. Lovely woman…odd choice in clothing,” he says after a beat. Dean picks up our dishes to put in the kitchen sink. I follow him, of course. “Excuse me? Odd? No, she happens to be a fashion icon…in my heart. She’s the best dressed person in the movie world.” Another quirked eyebrow is sent my way, but I don’t back away. “Tambryn, it’s odd.” Oh my God. It finally clicks in my head. 

“You met Helena Bonham Carter?” I ask, shock clearly in my voice. Dean sends a smile my way. “I was waiting to see how long it’d take you to pick up on that part. It was a few years ago. I think it was a fundraiser for child cancer. Nice lady, by the way.” Huh, this guy is that rich that he can run into celebrities at events, and be as important as them. Interesting. 

“What a lucky guy,” I say as I walk over to the table where my speakers are and restart the song that Lily made for us. Dean’s footsteps aren’t far behind. 

“So we’re starting now?” Dean asks. He plants himself in the middle of the room, feet shoulder length apart and looking straight ahead. He looks like he’s ready to go to war in his sweatpants. When I stand right in front of him, my face is leveled with his chest. One of these days, I’m gonna have to ask him how tall he is. 

“Yep, put your hands on my hips,” I tell him while placing my arms around his shoulders. He hesitates, but soon complies. His hands are a comfortable weight on my sides. “Now lift your left leg while I lift my right,” I instruct. He does this with ease and waits for my next instruction. “Now step over your right foot.” Now this is where he starts to stagger. I smirk at his struggle, but soon do the same thing. “Now spread your hands out as far as you can. And I’ll do the same thing, but we have to keep touching,” I tell him. We both do this with ease and a smile comes across my face. Things are about to get tricky.

“You’re about to hate me,” I mumble over a quick chuckle. Dean lifts the right side of his lips, and because of this, his dimple shows. God, why are dimples my weakness? “Why?” He asks. “Because everything we just did, is supposed to be in one swift movement.” Dean’s face drops and that glorious dimple disappears. “But the foot twisting thing was hard…” He mumbles to himself. I get back into our first position and Dean follows suit. “I know, I know. Life is hard. Just try it, you can only get better,” I say in my most inspirational voice. 

An hour later, Dean’s panting, laid out. And I’m hunched over, laughing my ass off. He looks like he’s dying, but I can’t help myself. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up at the old, helpless man,” Dean groans as he lifts himself up on his forearms. When I finally calm down, I walk over to him and hold my hands out for Dean to take. He looks at my outstretched hands, and then back at me before taking them and hoisting himself up. 

“Sorry, it’s just that what we just did, is just my warm-up,” I explain. Dean heads for the kitchen and I follow him. It’s fucking amazing and creepy to just stare at Dean’s back muscles. It’s fucking amazing on his part, and creepy on mine. I mean, if you could see them right now, you’d stop and stare just like what I’m doing right now. They’re awesome, really. Ahem, I’m going to attempt to help you all out there to imagine. 

The tight blue shirt clings to his back and it seems that with every move he makes, Dean’s muscles just ripple under the skin. He pulls out a pitcher of water from the refrigerator and sets out two clear cups. With every move he makes, you can bet your sweet ass I’m watching. 

“I didn’t know you could doze off so much,” Dean says with a smile as he passes me a glass of water. I take the glass and gulp down a bunch of water. “I didn’t doze off,” I say weakly. Dean looks me in the eyes, silently with the smallest smirk on his face, as if he knew exactly what I was looking at. Ahh, hell. He probably did. 

“What did you say?” I ask just to fill the quiet air. “When did you start to dance?” He repeats while sitting on the stool next to mine. 

“It was actually my mom’s idea. She wanted me and Renee to get into something active. I like dancing, Renee, not so much. She’s more of a…I really don’t know what she is,” Dean cracks a smile at that, “But yeah, she didn’t really bring up the dancing thing until a few years ago. Right when I ended eighth grade that’s when she brought it up,” I explain. 

Dean’s eyebrows rise at that. “You just got into dancing a few years ago? Don’t you need to audition to get into that school?” I nod my head. “Yeah, I guess they just liked my dance,” I shrug. Dean gulps down his water and wipes his mouth. “You’re very talented to be able to get in there. My son’s girlfriend auditioned to get in there and wasn’t accepted,” he tells me. I nod my head. I still don’t know how I got in there. 

“Do you own water bottles?” I ask. Dean looks flustered at the change of topic. “Short attention span, I see,” I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t actually,” he answers. “Why? How do you grab on the go? Lake Michigan isn’t that safe, ya know.” 

Dean’s lips spread into a smile. “I don’t get my water from the lake, Tambryn. Water bottles hold so many harmful toxins that I don’t want anything to do with them. My water’s filtered, and when I’m on the go, I just put it in a thick glassed tumbler,” Dean tells me. I look away with mock hurt on my face. “I wish I met you a little bit sooner. I’ve been drinking out of water bottles all my life,” I grab Dean by the shoulders and shake him lightly. “Am I gonna die, Dean?! Am I?” Dean smiles and takes my hands into his, holding them in his lap. 

“You should’ve been a theater major,” he mumbles. I giggle and draw my hands back slowly. God, his hands are soft. “I get that a lot,” I say. 

“We gotta hang out again,” I say as I open up the door to Dean’s car. He nods his head happily. “We do.” “And next time, I’ll cook.” He cocks an eyebrow at me. “You can cook?” I roll my eyes. “My mom caters for Pete sake; of course I know how to cook.” Dean holds his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. Next time, Tambryn cooks,” he says for reassurance. I nod my head with a smile on my face, stepping out of the car. “Good, see ya later.” 

“Oh! Don’t forget your food,” Dean says as he twists his body to get the brown paper bag filled with the pasta from earlier. I dip back into the car to get it, but all that happens is our faces being inches away from each other, breathing in his breath and him breathing in mine. Oh, God. I feel like I’m in one of those cheesy romantic comedies where the girl and the guy stare longingly into each other’s eyes until one leans over and kisses the significant other. 

Well, I’m not a lame ass movie, and I’m not that cheesy, so I grab the bag from his hands and slip out of the car once more. “Thanks, dude. For the food…and for being my dance partner… and for driving me home.” Geez, I have a lot to thank him for. Dean shifts back into his seat awkwardly and nods with a wobbly smile, not meeting my eye. “You have nothing to thank me for. Just common courtesy,” he says. I step back to shut the door, but the window is down. “Well, thanks anyway. It might not mean a lot to you, but it means something to me,” I say. 

He meets my eye when I say that and that stunning smile with the dimples is back on his face. “You’re welcome,” he says softly. I smile back and say goodnight before walking down the street to my house. 

When I open the door to my house, is when I finally hear him pull off. God, I can’t wait to see that man again.

“Tambryn, is that you?” Mom calls from the laundry room. And back to normal life. I follow her voice to the room to see mom folding clothes and Renee pulling towels out of the dryer. “Hey, guys,” I say as I lean against the door frame. “Hey, where were you?” She asks. “At Lily’s practicing the dance,” I half lie. “What’s in the bag?” Renee asks. My eyes roll over to her skinny body on the dryer, looking at me as if she has some kind of power over me. The bitch.

“Pasta, that’s for me and only me,” I say pointedly. Mom shakes her head with a smirk. “It’s all good, we ate already. I made you a plate just in case.” “Who made the food?” Renee pries. I scrunch up my nose at her. “We made it, Sherlock. Why do you care, anyway?” I snap back. “Since when do you guys cook?” She really doesn’t value living, I see. “Since when do you care?” 

Mom lifts up the basket so Renee and I are blocked from each other’s vision. “Okay, that’s enough. We’re all tired, let’s just go to bed,” she says as she moves out of the small room. “Great idea. I’m tired anyway,” I say while looking right at Renee. She hops down from the dryer and leaves me alone in the small space. I soon follow their lead and leave. They both go upstairs while I head to the kitchen to put my food in the refrigerator. I hide it all the way in the back, so no one will get any wise ideas. That shit is good, and that shit is mine.

Dovett calls me right when I get in my room. I kick off my shoes and drop on my bed like dead weight. “Yes, snookums,” I say into the receiver. Dovett does this cute little snicker every time I call him that, and it’s adorable. “Just calling to see what’s going on in my boss’ daughter’s life. Is that normal?” He asks. I smile even though he can’t see.

“Probably not, but we’re not normal, so I guess it makes it normal for us,” I answer. “True, so what’s up? Haven’t seen you on any of the jobs lately.” I forgot that I haven’t even told Dovett about Dean. “Well, you remember that guy from the gala not too long ago?” I ask. There’s a pause as he thinks. “The cute weird one you were talking to?” He asks.

I roll my eyes, but say, “Yeah, that one. We’ve been hanging out lately. I just came back from his house, actually.” “Are you crazy, Tambryn? He has people in his basement. He has an awesome face. I wouldn’t mind blowing him, but I wouldn’t take it as far as going to his place…how does it look?” And people think I’m dramatic. 

“First of all, Dove, he lives in a high rise condo building, so no basement. Second, his place is ginormous. I didn’t know two-story condos existed. Also, he didn’t put me in any kind of danger. Matter of fact, I think I’m the more dangerous one when it comes to him and I.” 

“You’re probably right, you are pretty dangerous. So what’s he like? Tell me everything. You haven’t fucked him yet, right? Because you gotta make them work for it, Bryn.” This guy talks a mile a minute. “No, I didn’t fuck him, what kind of woman do you think I am? And he is the nicest soul I’ve ever met, Dove, I’m serious,” I tell him. “You like mild-mannered men that are twice your age? Since when?” 

“Since I met him, really. But he’s a nice guy. Plus, you shouldn’t be the one to talk. I’ve seen the guys you date, Dove. You’re not innocent either,” I shoot playfully. I can hear water moving in the background. He would take his gayness to another level by taking a bubble bath. “There’s nothing wrong with dating bad boys who are still in the closet, that’s the thrill. Also, my guys aren’t old enough to be my grandpa,” Dovett says. 

“He’s not as old as you’re thinking. Dean’s forty-seven, which is the age your dad is,” I tell him. “Ew, don’t bring my dad into this, Tambryn! My point is, is that the dude’s I have sexual relations with are around my age. What about that Benny kid?” Dovett suggests. My nose scrunches up. “Ugh, no. Benny’s just a friend.” Dove giggles over the line.

“Give him my number, when he gets of age,” he slips in. “Sorry to disappoint you, Dove, but Benny isn’t gay. Far from it, actually,” I say. Dovett grunts and says, “Those are the gayest ones. But if you like this guy, I have no choice but to like him, too.” “And want to blow him,” I mutter. “I want to meet him if this gets any more serious.” He totally ignores my comment. “Will do. But hey, talk to you later, I’m gonna go to bed,” I tell him. 

“Alright, lover. Talk to you later,” he says before we hang up. And I know that he’s serious about meeting Dean. I smile to myself. That’s gonna be hilarious or interesting, or both.


	6. Boners...

“Can you take this fucking seriously for once, Benito?!” We’ve been dancing the same damn part for what seems like hours in Lily’s basement. “I am taking it serious! I just keep messing up!” Benny yells back. “You wouldn’t be messing up so damn much if you kept your dick soft and actually practiced! And you wonder why I go straight to Dean.” I walk over to the fold out chair with my water bottle on top and take a swig. 

“I do practice! I just don’t catch on as fast as you, Tambryn! God, and just so you know, I do other things other than fucking girls!” “Like what?” Lily and I both say at the same time. He glares at both of us before sitting down on the ratty couch in the corner. 

It’s so fucking frustrating being Benny’s dance partner. If you’re not trying to sleep with him, then he’s not paying any attention to you. We’re already in early June and he hardly knows the dance steps. Dean knows the dance better than Benny, and he doesn’t even go to our school! I don’t know what I’m gonna do if he doesn’t learn this dance on time. 

Lily grabs my hand and leads me over to the couch where Benny is sulking on. She sits between us and I know exactly what’s coming. 

“You know what I think you two should do?” She asks us in that over cheery voice of hers. “What?” We both grunt. “I think you two should make up a schedule on which days you two should practice,” she says. Benny and I both sit up and start spewing words at our blonde friend. 

“But whenever we try to practice he’s either late, or doesn’t show up at all! That would be a waste of time, Lily.” “Every time we do try to practice, she ends up going psycho on my ass when I do one little thing wrong in her eyes! She’s fucking impossible.” “I’m fucking impossible? You can’t keep your dick in your pants, and I’m the impossible one here?” “My dick has nothing to do with this!” 

Out of nowhere, Lily sets down a pen and paper on her lap. For some reason, that catches both our eyes and we look at it. “Now like I said, we’re going to make a schedule. Some days you guys will practice together, some days Bryn will practice with Mr. Dean, and then other days will just be your off days where you two can do whatever. Does that sound good?” She reasons. Benny and I look at each other, thinking. 

It is a good idea. Such a good idea that I don’t even know why I didn’t think of it. We both nod our head, waiting for her to continue. “Okay, let’s start with the first day of the week, Sunday.” Benny and I both interrupt her to say, “Off day.” Lily nods her head and by the letter ‘S’ on the paper draws a straight line. “Monday?”

It takes us about ten minutes to make the schedule, and it works for everyone. Sundays are our off day, Monday and Tuesdays are for Benny and I to practice, Wednesdays are Benny’s day off to do anything (he insisted that he needed and extra day like that), Thursday is when we practice together, and Friday and Saturday are reserved for me to practice with Dean (we even called him to make sure it was okay with him). So it was all set. And there are actually consequences if someone breaks these rules. I don’t even have to tell you all out there the consequences because Benny is going to break them soon enough, and then you’ll see.

“I can’t believe it, we actually agree on something,” Benny mumbles in disbelief. I nod my head, agreeing. “I know, it’s a miracle.” 

Right when I get home, exhausted, my mom rushes towards me with her catering outfit on. “Bryn, I’m gonna need you to come with me tonight. Roy cancelled on me at the last minute,” she yearns. Damn, I didn’t even get to set my bag down. “Mom, I’m extremely tired right now. I just got done practicing for my dance and all I wanna do is take a long hot bath and sleep,” I whine as I trudge toward the stairs. She follows me, of course.

“Bryn, I really need you right now. I know that you’ve been practicing, and that’s great, I’m happy, but I need you right now. Please? Just a few hours, I’ll even buy us tacos from that place on State.” She’s begging. Whenever she brings up the taco place on State Street, you know she’s begging because she absolutely hates that place with every bone in her body. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear on the news that the place mysteriously burned down from some random arsonist. You wanna know why I wouldn’t be surprised? Because my mom would be behind it! 

I slowly turn back around to look at her, and she’s got that desperate look on her face. Ahh, how can I deny her now? “Let me take a quick shower first. I’m sticky,” I say as I wobble up the stairs. “Thanks, Bryn. Meet me in the car!” Mom calls before the front door slams shut. 

When I get out of the shower, I slip into the white button down and black trousers mom already set on the bed for me. She had this all planned out before I even walked through the door! Whatever, too late now. Mom didn’t mention what sort of event this was. I wonder if Dean will be there. What better way to find out than just calling him. 

“Hi Tambryn,” Dean answers. His voice seems to be so far away. I must be on speaker. “Hey, Dean. Sorry to call you twice-”, he interrupts me and says, “You’re always welcomed to call me. No need to apologize.” For some dorky reason or another, I get all tingly from hearing him say that. 

“Right back at ya, bud. But I wanted to ask you if you were gonna be at an event tonight,” I reply. “As a matter of fact, I am. And now that I think about it, on the invitation it said that Dark Cavern was catering.” That makes me smile for some reason. 

“Yeah, one of my mom’s idiot employees called off at the last minute and I have to fill in for her.” “What a tragedy,” he muses. I grunt a laugh and say, “I know, right? Well, at least you’ll be there to entertain me.” “Always, just look for the empty table, and you’ve found me.” He means it as a joke, but we both know it’s ninety-nine percent true. “Stop it, I’m sure some of your rich friends will be there.” “Maybe, but I gotta go. I’m expected to be there at a certain time.” I sigh, but let him go. 

Right when I end the call, I hear a car horn outside. Mom. “Hurry up! Mom’s waiting on you!” Renee yells from her room. I roll my eyes and make my way downstairs. Not before kicking her door open and running down the steps to the front door. “You act like I didn’t hear the same car horn as you, idiot!” 

We arrive in front of the John Hancock building about twenty minutes later. Traffic wasn’t as bad as we’d been expecting to be. Mom hustles us into the building to the fortieth floor where the event will be held. I still don’t know what the event is even about. 

“So Roy called in. I knew it!” Dovett says as he spots me. I walk over and he pulls me into a hug. “Yeah. My mom has terrible staff,” I mumble into his shoulder. “You’re telling me,” Laurence, the guy I had to fill in for the night I met Dean, agrees. I roll my eyes and look his way and flip him the bird. He smiles, knowingly before walking away. 

“You look tired, what’s up with you?” Dovett asks as we get all the silverware ready. I shrug my shoulders, fighting off a yawn. “I just got done with practicing for my final. All I wanna do is sleep.” “Poor thing. Bet your dance is gonna be awesome, though. Can I come?” Dove asks with bright eyes shining right at me. I can’t help but crack a smile. 

“Of course. I’ll make sure to get you a ticket. But guess what? Dean’s gonna be here.” Dovett drops a fork staring wide-eyed at me. “You’re lying.” I shake my head no. “Now I get to talk to him!” Now it’s my turn for my eyes to go wide. “What do you mean? You said that you were gonna do that when things got serious.” Dovett goes back to the silverware, shooing away my worry with his limp left hand.

“Oh, hush. You’re acting like I’m gonna ask for his doctor report. I just wanna see how he’s like,” Dovett reassures, but that doesn’t reassure me. “You’re such a mother hen with no hens to mother,” I grumble. Dovett chuckles, kissing me on the cheek. “You’re my hen.” 

All the rich people finally take their seats in the dining hall and now it’s our turn to come out. This event is pretty weird, the guests usually socialize and have biddings before sitting down and eating, but I guess this one is different. “What exactly are we here for?” I ask Dovett as we wheel out our carts full of food. “It’s the Snow City Arts Gala. There’s going to be bidding, cocktails, art, and etcetera. Should be fun,” he answers as we set the plates down at our tables. Yeah, fun for them, but I don’t say that out loud. There’s a high chance that Dovett’s thinking the same thing anyway.

Just like I suspected, no one thanks me for setting down their food. I don’t understand how you could be so rich, but so ungrateful. 

Dovett and I, as you’ve probably already figured out, have partnered up to serve the same tables. There are a lot of people at each table, at least ten. We make it to the table in the corner, and my face splits into a smile. Dean. “Oh, God. At least try to hide your boner,” Dovett mumbles as we approach the table. I bump him and start to take the plates from the cart. Dean isn’t sitting at the table by himself, but he might as well have, since no one even acknowledges his existence. Everyone’s just wrapped up in their own world with other patrons at the table, except for him. 

When he sees us stop at his table, a bright smile shines on his face. I return the smile and start placing their food in front of them. Dovett is decent enough to take the side of the table where he won’t be able to serve Dean so I can. I get to him and set his plate down. “Thank you, young lady,” he says lowly. I nod my head and say, “You’re most welcome, sir,” loud enough for the whole table to hear. They need to know that there’s at least one nice person at the table. “Shut up, Tambryn,” Dovett hushes in a harsh voice. I would flip him off, but we’re working right now. That’s the only thing that’s keeping me from doing so. And because I can’t stop staring at Dean. He looks so good in his gray suit with a skinny black tie. Best dressed by far, I’d say. 

“Would you all like to hear the wine choices?” Dovett asks when everyone has food in front of them. A woman in a blue shimmery dress snorts and rolls her eyes. “This is Caverly Catering, right? Can they even afford any wine that’s good?” The table snickers, except for Dean. My hands ball up, ready to strike. “How about we hear what the fella has to say before making ignorant comments like that, hmm?” Dean defends. The table stops laughing and looks over to the voice. 

“Oh, Dean, I’d expect you to defend them. You’ve always loved the cheaper things in life,” the woman says. He shrugs his shoulders and says, “If that’s what you want to call it, Kathy. But at least my company isn’t four billion dollars in debt just because you wanted to have a one month yacht party that you knew you couldn’t afford.” Dovett and I both try to stifle our laughter. What the hell can you do on a yacht for a month? 

“Umm, we have the Screaming Eagle 2003, Montrachet, Chateau Lafite, and Royal Demaria,” Dovett names. Dean is the only one sitting at the table that looks comfortable. “I’ll have the Screaming Eagle, please,” he says happily. I nod my head at his order, and silently thanking him. The rest of the table names off their wine of choice, but I don’t remember anybody else’s order except for Dean’s. 

“Is it bad that I just got a boner?” Dovett asks when we get in the kitchen, taking care of the orders. I huff a laugh at that and pour the only order that I know into the wine glass. “No, I just got a lady boner, too. God, I didn’t know he could talk like that!” “He’s a keeper in my book.” We start to stack the glasses on trays, ready to leave. “So you don’t have to interview him?” I ask hopefully. Dovett snorts and lifts up the silver tray while I lift up mine. “I didn’t say all that, honey.” I roll my eyes and follow his lead.

We get back to the table and everyone acts civilized. We even get a few thank yous. “So, does everyone have what they need?” I ask before we go. Everyone nods their head, digging in to the “cheap” food. Even the Kathy bitch seems to be working her way through her plate. I count that as a small victory. 

The night moves on smoothly. They’re now on the silent auction of unnecessarily expensive crap, and we just glide around while the guests pick off wine glasses from our trays. I yawn and look at the clock in the corner. It’s a quarter to eleven and this is only halfway done. Someone taps me on the shoulder and I turn around to see Dean. He looks as if he’s trying to hide a blush in the darkness of the room. We’re in the back and the only light that’s shining is coming from the stage all the way in front. 

“Hi,” he says shyly. I crack a smile at his cuteness. “Hey, dude. Thanks for what you did back there with the Kathy girl,” I say. He finally meets my eye, and yep, he is definitely blushing. “It was no big deal. I never liked the woman. But, you’re welcome, as always.” I look around to see that everyone’s engulfed with what’s happening on stage, so I set my tray down on a nearby table. “Why aren’t you bidding on anything?” I ask. He scrunches up his nose adorably and says, “Those paintings are ugly.” 

I look around to identify my mom, and only see Dovett coming our way. Oh, God. “Hi, Dean. Remember me?” The blond asks with a smile that shows off all his white teeth. Dean looks flustered, but puts on a genuine smile. “I do, but I can’t remember your name, sorry,” he answers. Dovett doesn’t look affected at all, he never does. “No worries. I’m Dovett, Bryn’s keeper,” he says while holding his hand out for Dean to shake. Dean does and says, “Nice to formally meet you, Dovett. Interesting name by the way.” The blond shrugs a shoulder.

“It’s the strongest name my mom could think of. But she’s really regretting it now, though,” Dovett explains. Dean’s brows furrow. “Why’s that?” He asks. “Because I turned out to like boys. Now she wishes she named me something like Jake or Kyle. A name that fits, ya know?” All I want to do right now is send Dovett on a rocket ship that lands right on the moon and far, far away from here. For some odd reason, Dean doesn’t look like he wants to run away or anything. 

“Ahh, I see. Does she not approve of you being gay?” Dean asks, and actually seems interested. “Oh, she approves. But my dad is another story. I’m the only ‘girl’ as he likes to call me, in a litter of five burly boys. So you can see where we’d clash.” Dean’s mouth does this cute little pout when he hears Dovett’s story. “I’m sorry to hear that. His loss, though, you seem like such a nice boy,” he comforts. Dovett smiles at the compliment. “Why thank you, Mr. Maverick. Do you have any children?” I pinch his arm. Can’t he just leave already?

“I do, actually. Two boys and twin girls,” Dean answers, not fazed at all. “Ohh, exciting. Judging by the way you look, your boys must be heartbreakers.” Is he really trying to flirt? On the guy that I like? Right in front of me? I should punch him. Dean blushes and looks at his shuffling feet. “Thank you, Dovett. Tambryn’s seen pictures of them, she’s said something similar.” Dovett looks at me and I cock my head to the guests behind us, trying to get him away. “I bet she has. I’d love to talk more, Dean, but our Bryn here seems as if she wants me to leave.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. “You couldn’t be anymore right,” I say. Dovett nods his head and looks back over to Dean. “Nice talking to ya. Maybe you can set me up with one of your sons.” Kill me now. Dean nods his head politely. “I’ll make sure to bring it up to the one that’s of age the next time we talk.” Dovett starts walking slowly, back to the crowd of people. “That’d be great! I’d hate to go to jail. The boys would be all over the gorgeous twink.” 

“Is your son even gay?” I ask when Dovett’s finally gone. Dean shakes his head with a smile. “He’s not, but I couldn’t crush the boy’s heart.” “Sorry about him. He just wanted to make sure that you didn’t have people in your basement, as he put it,” I explain. Dean shrugs it off with a slight smile. “Oh, he’s fine. He’s just looking out for his friend. I like him. You two compliment each other.” My eyes narrow, confused. “What do you mean?” I ask. “He’s you if you were gay, and you’re him if he were a girl. I like him, he’s entertaining.” Yeah, everyone can’t help but love little ol’ Dove. I nod my head, liking his answer. I take one last look at the crowd before turning back around. 

“You wanna talk in the hallway? I’d hate for my mom to see,” I ask, pointing to the exit. Dean nods his head in understanding. We walk out of the dining room as discreetly as we can and walk down the most deserted hallway we can find that over looks the whole city. “You look sleepy,” Dean observes. I nod my head, trying but failing to stifle another yawn. “Yeah, my mom told me last minute that I had to fill in for one of her guys. And on top of that I’ve been practicing all day with Benny. I’m so tired. Can’t wait for this crap to be over,” I say, my eyes drooping even more. “Well lucky for you it is almost over,” Dean says reassuringly. 

A jolt of energy goes through my body at the sound of that. “Really? I thought there was still so much to get through,” I say, but my face droops again, remembering something. “But I might not even get that much sleep anyway. I just remembered that Renee’s stupid friends are coming over early as shit tomorrow.” Her friends are fucking weird, guys. Like who has a freaking sleep over that starts eleven in the fucking morning? And what mom agrees to that? 

Dean looks uneasy now, with his hands in his pockets. “Well, if you’d like, since Saturday is tomorrow, you can spend the night. I-if you want of course. And you already know that I have a guest room. Only if you want, though.” God, he’s so shy that it’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen. I would love to go, but I don’t have any changing clothes. But if I do go back to the house, mom is gonna be suspicious if I go back out so late after complaining about being sleepy. I do wanna go though. He has to have extra clothes in that big place.

“Sure, I would love to go. Do you have any changing clothes at your place?” I ask. He nods his head, trying to hide his excitement. “Of course, I have some in the spare room,” he says. I smile and say, “Great, meet me in the back after this thing is over, deal?” “Deal, we should get back in there,” Dean says as holding his arm out toward the dining hall. I agree and lead the way.

Dean was right, the event takes another hour before everyone’s filing out. My mom and I are in the kitchen with the rest of the staff, cleaning up. It’s my chance to ask. “Mind if I spend the night over at Lily’s?” I ask. She stops packing to fix me with a confused expression. “This late, aren’t you tired?” Mom asks. “Yeah, but I’m not gonna get any sleep with Renee’s friends being at the house all day tomorrow. And I really don’t feel like punching a thirteen-year-old in the throat,” I explain. Mom has her thinking face on. 

“I guess you have a point. Is she meeting you here?” I nod my head. “Yeah, she’s outside right now,” I say. Mom hugs me and says, “Well, you shouldn’t leave her waiting. I can clean up from here, get some sleep.” I grab my stuff and start for the door. “I will thanks, ma. See ya, twink,” I call over my shoulder. “Tambryn!” Mom reprimands. “Bye, love,” Dovett calls.

I walk outside to the back of the building to see Dean sitting in his white Phantom. He brought out all the stops today. I knock twice on the window and he jumps a bit before noticing me and unlocking the doors. I open the door and slide in to the expensive car. “Big scaredy cat,” I mumble. Dean chuckles. “It’s dark and I’m in the back of a building alone. I’m very vulnerable,” he jokes as we drive off. 

Right when we step into Dean’s condo, a long, unattractive yawn comes from me. “You weren’t playing when you said you were tired. Come on, there’s some clothes upstairs,” he says as he leads me up the steps to the guest room. I didn’t even go up here when I did my own self-tour of the place. Hope it’s not all white like that room down stairs. White walls scare me for some reason. 

The room to my liking is lilac, obviously a woman’s touch. Dean turns to me, blushing. “My daughter wanted to design the room. She loves purple,” he explains as he slides the closet doors open. I roll my eyes and correct him. “God, you’re such a dude. It’s lilac, Dean.” He looks at me as if I’ve grown another head. “That’s what I said, purple.” Men.

Dean pulls out a bunch of oversized shirts and boy shorts for me to pick from. Some of the clothing still has the tags on them. “Geez, Dean. What’s up with all the clothes?” I ask when I pick out a purple Pink shirt and blue boy shorts. “I like to have clothes for just in case my kids or guests come over.” He definitely likes to provide. “Well, thanks,” I say. He nods his head with a shy smile. “I’ll leave you to get change. Night, Tambryn. I’ll be in my room if you need anything else,” he says before closing the door. 

I change out of my catering clothes and into the comfortable pajamas. Geez, how did I miss the floor to ceiling window of the city?! I run over to it and look out. It’s dark out, but the bright lights help brighten the night. And in the distance, I can see the Ferris wheel spinning at the Navy Pier. Everything’s just beautiful, and I don’t even think about how high up we are. Ha! This fear of heights seems to be going away. 

But now, I’m not even tired anymore. So I make my way down stairs to what I assume is Dean’s room, since it’s the only closed door. I knock twice then wait for an answer. “Just a second,” I hear Dean call behind the door. I wait patiently for a few more seconds before Dean opens the door. He’s wearing checkered boxers with a regular t-shirt and a concerned look on his face. “Is something wrong?” He asks. I shake my head, smiling at his concern. “No, there’s nothing wrong with the room. I’m just not tired anymore. Are you?” Relief fills his face as he invites me into his room. 

It’s the biggest bedroom I’ve ever seen. The walls are a powder blue and the far wall is just like the upstairs bedroom with the floor to ceiling window, but this one seems to be bigger. And there’s a comfy looking recliner right by it. His bed is fit for two kings and a queen with how big it is. And across from the bed is a dresser with pictures and cologne on top. The giant flat screen T.V. is plastered to the wall. Overall, I need his room. 

“I don’t sleep much. I was just going to work on a few stats for the company till I got tired. You’re more than welcome to stay in here,” he says as he picks up a folder and a pen from the dresser. I can’t help myself, I’m still a kid. 

I sprint for his bed then jump on it. Yep, it’s as comfy as it looks, maybe even comfier. I land smack dab in the middle of it and my feet and hands aren’t even dangling off the bed. Yeah, this is the biggest bed known to man. Dean’s chuckling as he walks over to his bed. “Like it?” He asks as he plops down on the bed, folder in hand. I roll over and lift my head up to face him. “Like it? I freaking love it! I didn’t even know they made beds this comfortable! Where did you get this, from a cloud?” 

Dean cocks his head as he opens the folder filled with numbers and graphs. It makes me nauseous just looking at them. “It wasn’t cheap, I’ll tell you that much,” he mumbles. I crawl over to him as he writes side notes on everything. Lower this rate, higher this rate, shut down that plant in Bloomington, and hire more people on State, blah blah blah. “You have really neat hand writing, like a girl,” I tell him. He huffs out a laugh. “Thank you, Tambryn. You know you can turn the T.V. on if you want, don’t have to look at me do boring stuff,” he says. I shrug my shoulders, rolling onto my back. 

“Not really in the mood for sitcoms.” Dean stuffs the graphs back into the folder before tossing it onto the nightstand. “You didn’t have to stop working because of me,” I tell him while I lift myself onto my forearms, looking right at him. He’s sitting Indian style with his hands in his lap. He looks so young sitting like that. “Nah, I can work some other time. So what’s keeping you up so late?” He asks. I lift myself up in the same position as him. 

“Staying over night in a new place is what’s probably keeping me up. I did this the first time I stayed at all of my friends’ houses. Except for Dovett. Maybe because he has so much incense that it put me right to sleep,” I ponder out loud. He nods his head in understanding. “I get what you’re saying. My mom used to get this green tea from China Town that they swore was straight from China, and every time she’d drink it, it’d fill the whole house, putting us all to sleep, it was that strong. But she’d still drink it, saying that it was good to drink and it finally got us to bed on time,” he reminisces. My eyes widen. “I think I know what you’re talking about! My mom gets tea from China Town that makes me fall asleep, too. It smells like the forest.” “That’s probably the one.” 

I don’t know what else to talk about that is mild. But I do know what I do want to talk about. It may be insensitive and I may need to mind my own business, but I just want to know.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” I ask. Dean purses his lips, thinking. “Oh boy, shoot.” “Since my dad left my mom and well, you’ve been through a divorce, I just want to know when you knew that your marriage was over,” I say as fast as I can. Dean doesn’t move, not at all. Not even a little slump in the shoulders. When I think he’s about to kick me out and ask for his clothes back, he speaks. 

“I knew it was over when she started shopping a whole lot more,” he says. What? He must see the bewilderment in my face, because he continues on. “She was always a shopper. But later in our marriage, she started spending more of my money in my account. The account that I used to buy the kids what they needed. Whenever she wanted to shop, she’d always use the money that she made, never the money that I made. She has a lot of pride, so to see her continuously taking money from that account showed the utmost disrespect she could think of.”

“When I asked her about it, she got all defensive pulling that, ‘what’s mine is yours’ and vice versa crap. Then she kicked me out of the bed. That’s when I asked her what was wrong and then that’s when she laid it on me that she wanted a divorce.” I don’t know what to say to that, except for, “What a bitch.” Dean cracks a smile at that. “She is, isn’t she?” He agrees. 

“I don’t know how anyone could be mean to you, dude. You’re really the nicest person I’ve ever met. And my mom’s pretty nice, but she slaps me upside the head sometimes, so she just got demoted,” I say. Dean’s smile widens by a mile. “Thank you, Tambryn. And you’re the most… honest person I’ve ever met.” I roll my eyes. “Yes, I know I’m not Mother Theresa. But I’ll take honest.” 

“You should be happy with honest. Not that many people can say exactly what’s on their mind without feeling regret like you can… I actually find honesty attractive in people,” he says the last part so quietly, that I barely catch it, but when I do, my eyes widen at his forwardness. I stare at him and he stares at me. I don’t know how long we stare at each other, but it seems to be a long time. Soon, his eyes drift down to my lips. 

Is he about to do what I’m hoping and praying he’s about to do? Because if he is, I need to make sure my lips are moist and plump. My tongue darts out to lick my lips and Dean lets out an audible sigh. 

He clears his throat and slowly moves forward, planting his hands on the mattress to help keep his balance. I lean forward also and all through this time, my heart is beating erratically. I’ve kissed a boy, don’t get me wrong. But it’s just that I’ve never kissed a boy of his age, which means he’s had so many chicks kissing those lips since maybe the 1970’s. Who knows, really? I may be thinking too much.

Our lips meet in the softest way possible. At first, neither of us makes a move to do anything else. But soon, Dean parts his lips and I do the same, and we’re soon full on kissing. He tilts my head back from the sheer force of him wanting more. God, his lips are soft, and the sound of those small noises coming from the back of his throat are just wonderful. 

I pull back after a while, and Dean lets out a whine, grabbing hold of the back of my neck as he deepens the kiss. I have no problem with this. Dean leans forward, making me fall softly onto the mountain of pillows as I’m forced to open my legs wider so he can fit better between them. I wrap my arms around his neck as his hands lay on either side of my hips. A quick swipe of his tongue across my bottom lip has me nipping at his lightly. He lets out a moan as he shallowly dips his tongue into my mouth. I let out a breath of air right into his mouth and it seems to spur him on even more. 

All of a sudden, I feel something growing between my legs and my eyes pop open immediately. I may be young, but I know exactly what that is… Boner! He rocks his hips a little bit into me and a moan escapes me every time he does, making the bulge grow even more. Jesus, it’s like he’s never gonna get to full size; he’s already taking up a lot of space down there. Oh my God, Dean has a huge dick! It finally hits me like a ton of bricks. Wow, my brain has never gone that far before, but here it is. 

The more and more he rocks his hips into me, the more he lets out these manly grunts that just turn me on even more. And I know exactly where this is headed. We shouldn’t do this tonight. We should definitely do it eventually, but not tonight. I reluctantly turn my head away from his lips so now he’s kissing my neck. Not part of the plan, but it feels so damn good. I place my hands on his chest and push. “Dean, we have to stop,” I say. 

When the words leave my mouth, Dean’s lips leave my neck and he sits back on his haunches, catching his breath. I get into the sitting position and stare back at him. “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to lose control,” Dean apologizes. I wave it off with my left hand as I wipe the saliva from around my kiss swollen lips. “Don’t be sorry, it’s not like I was screaming for you to stop or anything. Plus, you stopped. Not that many guys have the willpower to do that,” I tell him. He nods his head, looking down. Dean finally notices his erection and tries to hide it by putting his hand over it. But all he does is add friction, causing him to add some pleasure to it. 

He grabs a pillow to hide it from my sight like a twelve-year-old boy who just got his first boner. It’s cute. “Do you, uhh, need a minute to take care of…that? ‘Cuz I can leave the room if you want,” I ask. He looks up at me and I finally get a look at his beet red face. “No, it’ll go down on its own,” Dean answers. “Good, ‘cuz your bed is absolutely the best and it would pain me to leave it.” I scoot over and under the covers looking at Dean, because I don’t know what else to do. He watches me with his bottom lip tucked between his teeth, thinking. 

After awhile he peeks under the pillow and what I suspect when it has gone down, he places the pillow back by the headboard. Dean gets under the covers and looks forward, not meeting my eye. 

“I don’t want this to get awkward between us. So what, you got a boner? You’re not the first guy ever to get one. It’s actually a big huge compliment for me that you got one,” I say to fill the silence. Thankfully, Dean gives me a small smile as he meets my eyes. “I’m glad that you see it that way,” he says simply. A yawn escapes from me and I cover my mouth. “Seems like you’re finally getting sleepy,” Dean says. 

I nod my head. “I guess our earlier activities got me pooped,” I say as I get further under the covers. He’s got the air conditioner on mighty high. Dean leans over to the nightstand to shut off the lamp before tucking himself back in. “Night, Tambryn,” I hear him say before I drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to review!!!


	7. Daters...?

The next morning… or day… or whatever millennium I’m in (I can’t tell), it’s dark. I turn around to the giant window and see thick black curtains covering it. So, I look over to the bedside table to the digital clock. It reads 1:31 in the afternoon. Jeez Louise. I finally notice that I’m the only person in the bed, so I hop off the bed to the fluffy carpet and walk out to the cold hardwood floors of the hallway. Still no Dean.

I look up at the second floor to see a moving figure in one of the rooms. I can’t really see since the door is left ajar. I take the steps two at a time till I’m at the door. I open it to see a gloriously sweaty Dean running on the treadmill. I didn’t know he had a workout room. He must have headphones in, because he’s still running. I walk over to him and press the up button on the treadmill to make him run faster.

He takes out his headphones and runs faster. “You’re finally awake,” Dean says. I nod my head, taking a seat on one of the weight chairs. I don’t know the name of it, people. I don’t work out. “You could’ve woken me up,” I tell him. Dean shakes his head. “You needed your rest. Plus, you don’t look like a person that takes being waken up lightly.” I giggle and agree. It’s true. “I didn’t know you had this little set up here,” I say while looking around. 

“I barely use it. There was just nothing else to do. You were asleep and I finished all my business calls, so it seemed like the best time to do this,” he explains. “We should work out together! I’m like a giant jelly roll.” I poke my soft belly and nearly lose my finger in it. 

“You’re perfect,” Dean says as he slows down the treadmill until it’s off. “Oh, stop it,” I follow his lead and exit the room. “You hungry?” He asks as he wipes his face. I push him toward his bedroom and say, “Yes, but we agreed the next time I’ll cook. And you’re sticky so go take care of that.” Dean smiles and goes to get cleaned up. And I do what I do best; raid fridges. 

By the time, Dean is out of the shower, I’ve made eggs Benedict. It’s the fanciest thing I can make, so…yeah. 

“Whatcha make?” Dean asks as he hovers over my shoulder. “Eggs Benedict,” I answer while I plate the dish. “Never had it,” he mumbles. I nearly drop the plates. “You’ve never had eggs Benedict?” He shakes his head sheepishly. “It was made for rich people! How have you not had it?!” Dean grins, takes his plate to the island and takes a seat. 

“We were more of steak eaters than egg and ham eaters,” he says as he takes a bite. His eyes soon light up after the food sets on his tongue. The same tongue that was in my mouth not too long ago. No! Let’s not think about that. Not now, anyway.

“You like it?” I ask. He nods his head vigorously, taking another bite. “I should’ve had you cooking all along.” I smile and take a bite for myself. Yep, I’m wonderful. 

For awhile, all you can hear in the room is our chewing. No one not saying a word, just eating. It’s not awkward, just comfortable, and we’re both hungry, really. 

But soon, Dean breaks the silence. “About last night, I hope I didn’t make you do anything you didn’t want. I tend to lose myself when I get… aroused.” I stop chewing and look at his blushing face. “Dude, like I told you yesterday, you didn’t do anything wrong, trust me. I would’ve told you if you did something wrong. Are you acting like this because I’m seventeen?” He shrugs a shoulder and takes another bite.

“Maybe. I’ve never… been with someone so much younger than me,” he says. I knew it! Age is just a number (and jail is just a room), yeah yeah, whatever. Fuck you. I pat his hand and say, “You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do, so no harm, I promise. You’re a good kisser.” That adorable blush is back as if it’d never left as he meets my eyes. “Thanks, you’re a good kisser, too.” 

“You have a big dick, don’t you?” My hands slap across my mouth as soon as I say it. What the hell, Tambryn?! Oh, how I wish I had a filter. Dean’s face is still red but there’s a sly smile on it. “You felt it, didn’t you?” He asks. When I feel that he’s not going to bitch slap me, I uncover my mouth and nod my head. “It was kinda obvious. It like, grew right on my cooch, dude. Like, right on it. It was warm, too,” I’m rambling, I know. Pray for me.

“I wondered what I was grinding on,” Dean thinks to himself. “Since you’re okay with this whole thing, you didn’t answer my question. I wanna know! You know I’m nosey,” I say. He bites his lip, thinking. “I never measured it,” he says under his breath. This is surprising. “Really? Every guy I know has measured. Shit, I’d measure if I had one. I even know Benny and Dovett’s size. Frightening, I know, but yeah, you’re weird,” I say.

Dean bursts out into laughter. “I’m weird for not measuring my junk?” He asks, pointing his finger at his chest. “Yeah! I thought all guys did that!” I defend jokingly. “No, no we all don’t do that. But since you wanna know so badly, I’ll let you know something. Every time I’ve had an argument with a woman, she never said that it was small.” I guess that’s something. Talking about how small a guy’s dick is like the first thing girls go for when they get mad. I still wanna know the exact size. But I won’t push the issue. I’ll leave it at that…for now.

“Do you have an extra toothbrush, I need to get spiffy,” I ask. He quirks an eyebrow at me. I roll my eyes and say, “I need to get clean, Dean. Hey, that rhymed!” Dean huffs a laugh but leads me to the bathroom, anyway. 

Dean hands me a big fluffy towel with a small washcloth and a bar of soap, with the toothbrush on the sink vanity. “Well, I’ll leave you to get to it. If you want, I can wash your work clothes and you can pick out something else to wear,” Dean says as he backs up into the doorway. I nod my head, thankfully. “Thanks, that’d be great,” I say before he shuts the door and I get to it.

That shower was amazing if anyone wanted to know. It was warm, the water was everywhere, I could pick the temperature (seventy-five degrees), the towels were fluffy, and the floors are heated. I never felt so clean in my life. I grab all my stuff and jet up the stairs to the guest room where all the clothes are. And like a sweetheart, Dean has already laid out all the clothing options on the bed.

I decide to wear a pair of grey cotton sweatpants with a purple t-shirt. I head downstairs to find Dean in a deep conversation on the phone in the kitchen. 

“Well what happened…You know how your mother is, Marlon, always the dramatic one…I’m not talking to her, I don’t have anything to say to that woman… I’m not scared of her, son. I just don’t want to talk to her…Because she doesn’t listen to anybody! The way she’s talking to you is the same way that she talked to me at the end of our marriage. You can’t tell that woman anything… Yeah, you can come over later. Need a ride? Okay, bye son.” At the end of his phone call, Dean sets his phone down and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath.

I shuffle my feet, not knowing what to do. He doesn’t even know I’m down here yet. “Uhh, should I leave?” I ask, pointing to the door. Dean opens his eyes and looks my way. “You heard that?” He asks. I nod my head. He grabs his phone and walks over to me. “No, he’s not coming till later, he’s over at his friend’s house right now. My son and Liza, that’s my ex-wife’s name, got into a little argument. They’re both dramatic. He wants to come over for a few days or so to cool down,” Dean explains. Liza, that’s a nice name for such a bitch woman. I try to steer us away from the subject of his ex-wife, because he looks as if he’s ready to burst.

“Why don’t we go to your room? That bed’s comfy,” I try. It’s not my best, but it makes him smile, so I guess it got the job done. “Okay.”   
We walk into his room and it takes me a few hops before I’m on the bed. (The bed’s high, okay?) I crawl up to the top and lay on my back. Dean watched my whole struggle in the doorway with a smile. He walks in and, with the most ease I’ve ever seen, just slides onto the bed. Tall people irritate me. 

I open my legs and make grabby hands at him. I like when he lays on me for some reason. He hesitates for a moment, but it’s obvious he wants to, so Dean slides between my legs, wraps his arms around my waist, and rests his chin on my chest, looking up at me. 

My fingers poke at his cheeks until he smiles and his dimples show. Then, I dip my fingers into his dimples. “I used to hate them,” Dean mumbles. I stop poking him and look bewildered. “You used to hate your dimples? Why? They’re adorable,” I say. He shrugs and says, “My sisters said that they made me look like a little girl.” I giggle. His sisters sound awesome. “I love your dimples, wish I had them.” “Well, if I could, I’d give ‘em to ya.” I smile at that. 

“I uhh, I wanna kiss you,” he whispers. How do you respond to that? Are you even supposed to respond to that? I don’t even know. My silence is making him anxious. I place my hands on either side of his face and lean forward. He follows my lead and meets me halfway. The kiss is nothing like yesterday’s, and that’s okay. This one is more relaxed and not so hurried. He’s a tongue kisser, I see. Dean’s tongue gently nudges its way into my mouth to find my tongue. At the end of the kiss, Dean places a last quick peck on my lips before we part. We both catch our breath while staring at each other. There’s something on my mind, but I don’t know how to word it. I guess I should just blurt it out however way it gets worded in my head.

“Does this mean that you’re my boyfriend and I’m your girlfriend?” Yep, it sounded just as bad as it did in my head. It’s just that when Jacob and I (the prick) started making out constantly, the next thing I knew we were dating. 

“I would like it to mean that,” Dean says in an almost whisper. I smile and give him a quick kiss to seal the deal of us being boyfriend and girlfriend. Wow, this is so weird, “I have a forty-seven-year-old boyfriend.” He smirks and says, “I have a seventeen-year-old girlfriend.” It sounds right to say it out loud. 

“We should go on dates,” I say. Dean lays his right cheek on my chest (boob) and looks up at me. “Where do you wanna go?” He asks. I take a second to think and look out the window. Then it clicks. “Navy Pier,” I tell him in a dream-like voice. He chuckles and nods his head in agreement. “Then Navy Pier it is.” “When though?” I ask. “Next Saturday is good. Is that good for you?” I nod my head. We can practice my dance and then go to Navy Pier. 

We spend the next few hours just lounging around, making out, and talking. Doesn’t sound like much, but it was fun to us. But soon, I have to leave because Dean’s son is on his way. 

“See ya later,” I kiss him as I grab the door handle to get out. He kisses me back before scooting back to his side. “I’m gonna miss you,” he mumbles. A smile is on my face, I know it. “I’m gonna miss you, too. I’d rather be with you than arguing with my sister and her little bitch friends.” I just reminded myself of Renee’s little sleep over. Jesus. Dean smirks. “I’ll call you when Marlon’s gone, okay?” He tells me. I nod my head before getting out of the car. 

“Got some sleep?” Mom asks when I walk into the living room. The white phantom passes by the window and a slight smile crosses my face. “Yeah, I did. Where’s the noise?” I say as I take a seat next to her on the couch. Mom sets her head on the back of the pillow and exhales loudly. “They went to the park for awhile. I really shouldn’t have agreed to this all-night sleepover right after working all night.” I chuckle and lay my head on her shoulder. “Told ya.” We spend the next hour watching, Real Housewives of Atlanta alone before Renee and her friends get back to ruin the peace.


	8. The Real Ex-Wives of Chicago

Thursday afternoon, after Benny and I have practiced our asses off, we sit in his basement exhausted. Benny raises the can of soda to his lips shakily as he tries to take a swig. “That was…intense,” I pant as I reach for the box of pizza. Benny agrees with a soft, “Hell yeah”. 

“I’m so proud of you two, practicing so hard for me,” Lily praises us while squeezing both of our cheeks. We try to wriggle from under her hand and it takes a moment to get out of her grip. “Feed me then, since you’re so proud,” I tell her. Lily takes her seat next to me and shoves a slice into my mouth. Last time I ask her to do anything. 

“Talked to Dean lately? You’re usually texting right now,” Benny asks. I haven’t even told them what happened last Saturday; we’ve been working so well. “I got some news,” I start. They both turn my way with wide eyes. “He knocked you up?!” Benny shrieks. Oh, God.

I shake my head while patting his cheek repeatedly. (It gets on his nerves). “No, no, no. Why would you think that? I would’ve told you guys if we were fucking.” “Oh, and we do still have that bet going,” he says with an arrogant smile. He really thinks he’s gonna win.

“Okay, can we get back to the news that you were gonna tell us, please?” Lily chimes in impatiently. I direct my focus back over to her and start to tell them about the weekend at Dean’s.

“He has a huge dick?!” Lily yells. Jeez, I never knew this girl to be this loud. “I haven’t seen it, but when we were making out, it was just chillin’ on my cooch,” I explain. Benny covers his ears staring at me as if I just told him he’s adopted. “Can we stop talking about this? I beg of you,” he pleads. Lily and I both look his way. “You do the same thing to us when you get a girl. We can’t shut you up,” I say. Lily leans forward and makes deep eye contact with our friend Benny. “And trust me, you get way more detailed than E.L. James.” I’ve been meaning to read that series. 

Benny shakes his head and takes another slice of pizza. “Well anyway, after he couldn’t resist kissing me, I asked him if this meant that we were dating. He just said that he’d want it to mean that and now he’s my boyfriend,” I finish. Lily looks impressed with her eyebrows perched up by her hairline. “Didn’t take you guys long at all. I’m impressed,” she says while patting me on the back. I give her a smile and look over at Benny. 

“Since you’re his girlfriend now you know he’s gonna start asking for something extra,” the boy mumbles. I roll my eyes, already knowing what this is about. “And what would that be, Benito?” He turns my way with that smile plastered on his face.

“He’s gonna want the P. And when he gets the P, I get my three-hundred bucks,” he gloats. God, I hate this dude. “I don’t have a say when I lose my own virginity?” I ask. Benny shrugs his shoulders, smile still on his face. “He is the one with the money.” “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” Before Benny can answer my question, Lily butts in.

“Does he know you’re a virgin?” She asks. I shake my head. “No, we never talked about that.” “Don’t let him find out,” Benny says. “Why not?” I’m just curious. “Men love virgins. He won’t be able to control himself. They’re tighter, more manipulative, tighter, more willing to do anything to please the guy, tighter, you know that no other guy has been in there, and did I mention tighter?” Lily and I both look disgusted at him. 

“You’re gross,” Lily whispers. He shrugs his shoulders, going back to his pizza.

 

“I want you to come to the dance recital,” I tell Dean on Saturday. We’ve just wrapped up with our practice and we’re sharing a chair out on the patio. There’s a pause for awhile. I look up at him from where I’m laying on his arm. He’s looking off into the distance with a worried look in his eyes. 

“What about your mom?” He asks timidly. Oh, I forgot about her. “You can just be Dovett’s guest. Say that you know each other from you and his dad doing business together,” I think up. Pretty proud of myself right now. “That doesn’t explain why I’d be at a high school dance recital,” Dean says. 

“Yes, it does. You can say that you’re thinking about transferring your son over to my school and you want to check out what’s there. My mom doesn’t really watch T.V. so she won’t even think anything of it.” He thinks it over for a bit before looking down at me with a smile. “Okay, then I’d love to go.” I don’t know why, nor do I want to know why my stomach just flipped from that. I lift myself up from Dean and hold my hands out for him. “Good, now let’s go to the Pier.”

We get to Navy Pier by the time it gets dark and not as crowded as it’d be usually. I check my phone and it reads, nine o’clock. “So you never told me what happened with your son?” I say as we walk along the railing separating us from the lake. “Marlon broke curfew again, but he feels as if it’s too early in the first place, so they started arguing about that. But in my opinion, it’s a layer of things that they just let build up and that was the final straw. He just came over to cool down for a bit. He left on Monday morning,” Dean explains. “And he went back to her place?” I ask while taking a lick of the ice cream he bought me. (He insisted on buying it). 

“No, he’s staying with his older brother for right now. They both want an apology from each other, so I don’t see this blowing over too soon. And we all have to take this family vacation next month,” Dean says the last part as if that was meant to be said just in his head. 

“A family vacation? How does that work? You guys are divorced,” I say. “It’s just something we do with the kids to let them know that we still love them and that their parents can stay in the same room long enough without her ripping my head off.” That makes me chuckle for some reason. 

“So where ya guys going?” I ask. “Portland, Maine. I have a property out there by the water that we like to use.” We take a seat at a red bench that sits right in front of the boats and lake. There’s not that much light shining this way since we’re in the back, which also means there are no people around. “Sounds fun,” I say as I take another lick of the cone. Dean watches me lick the ice cream a few more times before looking out in front of us. “Yeah, well if Liza can keep her mouth shut, we can probably all have a good time for once.” Every time we get on the topic of his ex-wife, a dark cloud just hovers over him, so I get the talking about a subject that always gets Dovett and Benny back on track. Sex. 

It might not be the best thing to talk about, but after that little talk with Benny about guys loving virgins, I just gotta see if it’s true. I probably should’ve asked Dove about it first, though. “Dean, how do you feel about virgins?” I ask. Dean freezes, as if everything he was thinking about just froze in his brain and just shut down. I realize that he didn’t shut down when he finally turns his head my way and stares. Feeling uncomfortable under his probing gaze, I lick the cone vigorously. That seems to falter his stare a bit and gets him looking normal again.

“Wh-what do you mean exactly?” Dean coughs. I shrug my shoulders. What do I mean? “I mean, do you feel that they’re better to manipulate,” I say. He bites his lip, thinking. “Manipulate into doing what?” He asks. I let out a loud sigh, trying to get my words together. “Manipulating into doing whatever you want to do with them…sexually,” Dean quirks an eyebrow at me. “It’s just that I was talking to Benny a few days ago and he was just going on and on about how he loves virgins because you can get them to do whatever you wanted, and not to mention how tight they are,” I ramble on so he can see exactly where this question sprouted from. 

When Dean hears my whole story, he nods his head in understanding. But he doesn’t respond right away, just picking his words. “I myself have never taken a girl’s virginity. So I wouldn’t really know. But in my opinion when I was a virgin, and this might be different for you, but it was great. I didn’t feel manipulated at all,” he explains. He’s never taken a girl’s virginity? “You’ve never taken a girl’s virginity? But you’re…old...and hot!” Dean blushes and looks down into his lap. 

“Private school Catholic girls are the biggest whores I’ve ever encountered. So it’s hard to find a virgin when you’re surrounded by nymphos twenty-four-seven.” 

Jacob used to go to a private Catholic school. That explains a lot of his ways. I sit back and look out into the water. “That’s still surprising,” I say more to myself. “What about you?” Dean asks. I daze off a little, so I don’t hear him fully. “What?” I ask him while giving him my full attention. His eyes move quickly from one thing to the next, but never meeting my eyes. “How do you feel about virgins being manipulated,” he clarifies.

I shrug my shoulders. “Well I wouldn’t know. I’ve never boned anyone,” I tell him. That causes Dean to lock eyes with me. Damn, I didn’t know someone can stare so hard that you can feel them looking straight into your soul. “You’re a virgin?” Dean asks carefully. I nod my head. “Yeah, why?” I ask. As if I didn’t already know. Dean shrugs a shoulder. 

“You’re beautiful, I just would’ve thought you’ve already…had sex,” he tells me. Yeah, Dovett was surprised too when I told him…then he proceeded to offer one of his dildos to me. 

“Nope, I’m as ripe as I’ll ever be,” I huff. Dean’s still looking at me with that same intensity. The same intensity that Benny has when he comes across a hard-to-get girl. “Surprising,” he says under his breath. 

We go inside the building to go look in the stores and Dean’s officially spoiled me. He buys me all the candy I want, dinner, four crystal bracelets, two pairs of Ray-Bans Glasses, a pocket watch (it looked cool), three shirts, a gold necklace with my name on it (we had to tell the woman three times how to spell my name correctly), and five cozy hoodies with different pictures of the skyline.

“You wasted so much money on me, dude,” I say as we eat out on the patio in front of the Pier. Dean and I both look at all the bags surrounding us. “If you wanted it, I don’t see it as wasting money,” Dean mumbles before biting into the seafood mixed pasta. “Well thank you, anyway,” I say while leaning in and giving him a quick kiss. That makes him smile and steal one more kiss from me. 

The Pier closes down a half hour later and we’re forced to leave. “You want me to take ya home?” Dean asks when we get back to the car. I stop a few feet away from it and turn towards Dean. “Can I drive? You brought out the Camaro knowing I’ve loved this car since it first came out,” I tell him. Dean towards me with a quirked eyebrow and a smile. “You weren’t born when the first Camaro was built,” he snorts. I shake my head at him.

“The point is you’ve know that I’ve wanted that car for awhile,” I whine and scurry over to him and give him the puppy eyes. No one can resist the puppy eyes. Not even Renee…but I don’t use it much with her, because it’ll start to lose its effect on her. His facial features soften, just like I expected.

“You have your license on you?” He asks. I smile knowing I’ve won. My hand slips into my pocket to grab the license. “Right here,” I hold it right to his face. Dean backs up to see my face with a smirk. “Okay, okay. I guess you can drive.” He tosses me the keys as he takes the bags with him. I didn’t mean to squeal, but I’m excited. I get to drive the sexiest car in the world! Okay, maybe not the world, but it’s close. 

“So you still haven’t told me where we’re going,” Dean says. Eh, my mom probably won’t even know I’m gone. Haven’t been around the house lately anyway. “Your house?” I ask to take a look from the road to him. The car is purring. Fucking purring. “Are you asking me?” Dean asks. I huff. “Well, yeah. It is your house.” “I’ve gotten so used to you being there, it’s just become second nature for you to be at my house,” he explains. I guess that’s fair. But still…Aww. He’s thinking of it as our place. 

I drive in the direction of Dean’s building in peace. “Duck into here,” Dean instructs when we get into the underground parking lot. I park in the space labeled: Reserved For Dean Maverick. Other Cars Will Be Towed.

My eyes can’t help but roll at the sign. “Is that sign really needed?” I ask. Dean blushes. “The building did that, I didn’t make them do it.” I nod my head before getting out. 

“You’re not that bad a driver,” Dean praises when we get through the door. I snort. “I’m THE best driver there is, Dean. Please don’t forget it.” He gives me a smile while sitting all the bags on the counter in the kitchen. “You’re right; you’re the best, Tambryn.” Finally, someone who shares my views. 

“Should this be as normal as it is?” Dean asks as he climbs on top of me in the bed. I close my legs over his mid-section and shake my head. “Nah, I don’t think it should be. But who cares?” I say. He smiles and lays on my boob. His cheek is warm. A little while longer, I’m drifting off to sleep.

“Taaammmbryynn wake up, sleepy head,” a voice calls to me. It may just be a stupid dream anyway. “Tambryn, can you wake up, please? I made breakfast,” the voice reasons. A sigh comes from me. This isn’t a dream, isn’t it? I open one eye to see Dean smiling at me at eye level. “I knew that’d wake you up. Come on,” he says as he walks out of my eye sight. I begrudgingly get out of the fluffy fortress and see Dean smiling in the doorway at my struggle. I give him the finger and when I get to him, he gently grabs my finger and kisses it before putting the middle finger down with the others. 

“You’ve wanted to do that every time I’ve flipped you off, haven’t you?” I ask him as we walk into the kitchen. “Of course,” he says matter-of-factly. I knew it. I walk into the kitchen to see a stack of chocolate chip pancakes on the island followed by a plate of eggs, a bowl of strawberries, and glorious, glorious bacon. Enough bacon to feed the village. Enough bacon to feed the homeless. Enough bacon to feed me. 

I rush over to the island and grab a plate to pack on the food. “You want anything to drink?” Dean asks from the refrigerator. I stuff my mouth with bacon before I can respond. I try to talk, but it’s all muffled. Dean turns around to look at me with a questioning look on his face before he sees what’s going on. We hold a stare until I swallow down the bacon.

“Got any iced tea?” I ask. He nods his head and pulls out a pitcher of ice cold tea and pours it in a glass. The glass slides over to where I’m stationed at the island, taking care of business. I mumble a thanks before going back to the pile of food. “This is good information,” Dean mumbles next to me with his hand supporting his chin. I turn towards him with a cocked eyebrow. “What’s good information?” I ask. 

“If I ever make you mad, all I have to do is make you bacon,” he answers. I giggle and wash it down with iced tea, which is glorious by the way. “So why did you wake me up?” I ask him. “I need to go to the Water Tower to get some stuff for my suit and I thought you’d like to come other than just waiting restlessly for my return,” Dean explains. I roll my eyes making a big show of it. “You make me sound like some kind of damsel in distress,” I mutter. Dean pecks my cheek quickly before letting a smile spread across his face. “And we can’t have that, can we?” “No we can’t.” 

For all of you that don’t know what the Water Tower Place is, it’s basically a mall in the middle of Downtown with floors and floors of different stores. It’s pretty awesome. But I still don’t understand why we’re here. “Don’t you get everything tailored?” I ask him as we head in the direction of Armani Exchange store. “Yeah, but I forgot to get a matching belt and my tailor is outta town for the week, so I have to come here,” Dean answers. I nod my head and walk into the obnoxiously loud store. How can people shop in this place?

“Isn’t this place a little too loud for you, old man?” I ask while looking at all the clothes. Dean looks through all the unnecessarily expensive belts as he answers me. The music doesn’t even seem to be bothering him. “Not really, but it seems to be doing a number on you,” he says without even breaking eye contact with the belts. I smile, that was actually a good comeback. 

“Going to some fancy party later on?” I ask him while help look for the best belt. “Nah, I just needed a belt to match the suit that was already made for me. I have an important meeting coming up soon.” Very distinguished. I actually have no idea what distinguished means, so that’s why I didn’t say it. 

“Mr. Maverick, oh I know my ex-husband when I see him,” a voice from behind us says over the blaring music. Dean stills from picking out which belt he wants and just stares. He’s staring at the belts, but isn’t looking at them if that makes any sense. I turn around for him to see a tall blonde lady with menacingly cold blue eyes. She looks gorgeous with her hair feathered back in a way that makes her look inviting, but after all the things I’ve heard about her, I know to think better. Her eyes scan over to me, looking up then down before looking over to Dean’s back again, waiting for him to turn around. 

Dean eventually turns to face Liza after mentally preparing himself to do so. “What are you doing here, Liza?” Dean breathes out while leaning back against the silver cart holding the clothes. Liza spreads her arms and looks around. “This is a public place, darling. I really don’t need to give you a reason. Now why are you here?” She retorts. Dean quirks a smile. “Like you said, this is a public place; I don’t need to give you a reason.” Good for you Dean!

“Wow, did you just grow a set of balls for this girl right here?” she turns and looks at me. “And who might you be, sweetie?” She asks. I’m stunned, really. I didn’t know that she’d even talk to me through this whole exchange. I look over to Dean to see if it’s okay, he nods his head and I feel more comfortable. I clear my throat. “Tambryn Caverly.” A bright smile is on her face.

“Well, hello Tambryn Caverly. I’m Liza Womack, Dean’s ex-wife. You might have heard of me. Dean likes to talk me down to anyone who will listen,” she says while shaking my hand. Before I can say anything, Dean opens up. “That’s funny you say that when you’re the one that went around telling everyone I was gay after the divorce.”

Liza looks over at me again before connecting back to Dean. “Throughout most of our marriage I was seventy-five percent sure you were gay…now, I don’t know what to think.” Dean lets out a frustrated sigh. “Then why did you marry me in the first place, Elizabeth?” Liza shrugs her shoulders carelessly. “You were good in bed,” she says simply. My eyes widen and I take a hasty step back from them and Liza notices. Her eyes go back to me as she says, “You look a bit young, but isn’t he a good fuck?” Oh my God. This cannot be happening right now.

“Liza will you be quiet? Tambryn’s my…assistant,” Dean says harshly. Liza turns back over to Dean with an amused look in her eyes. “Assistant? Are you gonna bring this assistant to Maine with us next month? Just like you’ve brought all the other assistants on all of our family vacations,” Liza muses. He brings assistants on vacation? 

“I just might, if you don’t learn to be quiet. And it hasn’t been every vacation. Only three and that’s because you forced me to go even when I told you that I had a lot of work to do,” Dean explains himself. Liza doesn’t look amused anymore, she looks as if she just got…bored. “You still don’t bring an assistant on a family vacation, Dean.” I have to side with her on this one. 

“Whatever, I told you I was busy. I’m done arguing with you, Liza. Come on, Tambryn, I found what I was looking for,” Dean ushers me over to the registers as we leave Liza alone. “Don’t forget assistant Tambryn, his dick is great! That’s the only good thing!” Liza yells after me. And for some reason, her words carry all over the store, which causes some people to look at her and us. I can hear Dean mutter an, “Oh my God,” under his breath. 

“Is this all for you, sir?” The cashier asks awkwardly. “Yes, yes,” Dean says hurriedly as he gets his wallet out of his sweatpants pocket. 

“That was a complete failure,” Dean huffs when we exit the store. I shrug my shoulders and say, “Wasn’t that bad to me. A bit awkward, but that was about it.” Dean turns to me, relieved that I’m not scarred. “Well, I’m happy to hear that. Do you wanna get something?” I really do want something, like everything in the windows, but I don’t want to spend all of his money. “I didn’t bring my wallet,” I tell him.

Dean narrows his eyes as if I said something wrong. “So? I’ll pay for it,” he says. I break my eyes away from Dean and look across the way to a Pink store. He follows my gaze and smiles. “Even if you want to go in that place.” My eyes brighten at his remark, but I still don’t want to break. “I just don’t want you buying me all this stuff, you did splurge on me yesterday,” I counter. Dean faces me full body. “Tambryn, I don’t mind buying you all this stuff. You wanna know why? Because I like you…and you’re my girlfriend. And not to toot my own horn, but I’m rich, so it really doesn’t matter in my banking account area.”

Oh, gosh. He really knows how to spoil a girl. I slap my hands on my thighs loudly. “Well then, let’s start in Pink,” I say as I lead us into the direction of the best store ever created.

About two hours later, after going into every store imaginable, we finally pack it all in to Dean’s silver Range Rover. “See? Was it that hard to spend money?” Dean probes with a smile. I shake my head leaning over to give him a kiss. “No, especially when the money isn’t yours,” I say between kisses. Dean grumbles out a laugh on my lips before we pull apart. “Thanks, Dean. I really mean it.” He nods his head before slipping out of the parking space.

“You know what I’ve noticed?” I ask Dean as we ride along Lake Shore Drive. “What’s that?” He asks. “That we don’t have cute names for each other like every other couple.” That makes Dean crack a toothy smile that shows his dimples. “What do you wanna be called?” I roll my eyes and remove my feet from the dashboard to look at him. 

“I don’t pick my own nick name; you have to do it for me. And vice versa,” I explain. Dean shifts his mouth to the right which makes his dimple even deeper, he’s thinking. “Pumpkin?” Oh gawd. My eyes roll on their own, didn’t even have to tell them to. “Pumpkin. Really, Dean? That’s the best you can come up with? Every couple calls their significant other that,” I grumble. Dean chuckles at my hardships. “I don’t know, Tambryn. I thought I was just gonna call you Tambryn for the rest of my life. I didn’t know I had to make up a name for you,” he explains. I snap my fingers and point to him. “And that’s another thing! You call me Tambryn all the time. Everyone else just calls me Bryn. So you defitnitely have to give me a nick name.” 

“I like your name,” Dean mutters so low I can barely catch it. “I like yours too, but I think we can make up adorable names for each other.” Dean waves his hand in my direction and says, “Fine. Let’s hear the name you made up for me.” My mind draws to a complete blank. A smile spreads across his face as he stares at the road. “Exactly, can’t think of nothin’.” I giggle at him. “No, no, just gotta give me some time…Deanie.” Dean’s smile drops as he hears the name fall from my lips. I can’t help but to laugh. 

“That’s not funny, Tambryn. Think of something else.” I slow down my laughter enough to respond. “No, no, I love it, Deanie!” Dean purses his lips, not even responding. My laughter slows to a complete stop a few moments later and I turn to the man driving. “You really don’t like the nick name, do you?” I ask him. He shrugs his shoulders. “I think I can get used to it. As long as you let me call you Prancer,” he reasons. My nose scrunches up at the name. “Prancer? Why?” He smiles at my confusion. “Because you’re a dancer, which means when you walk, you just prance around the place. You probably don’t even notice that you do it, but I did. So Prancer, how do you like the name?” I sit back into the seat, and think about it. It can grow on me I suppose. “I guess I can warm up to it.” An accomplished grin spreads across Dean’s face. 

“What am I gonna do with all this stuff? I can’t take it all home,” I say as we stare at all the bags filled with stuff that Dean has bought me over the past few days. The sofa and coffee table is covered with department store bags. “You can keep some of it here. You’re already here a lot, might as well have some of your clothes at my place,” Dean thinks. I shrug a shoulder. He’s got a point. I walk over to the bags that I defitnitely want to take with me and set them by the door. “Well where can we put the rest of the stuff?” I ask. 

Dean picks up as many bags as he can carry and walks toward his bedroom. “In my room. I have some drawer and closet space to put your stuff.” I follow him into his room and watch him hang up the Pink sweaters and other things that he bought for me. He looks so adorable… and focused. “You do too much for me,” I say as I lean against the closet door. He turns to look at me with a bewildered look before a smile washes over him. “You might think that you do nothing for me, but you actually do so much, Tambryn.” I hide my smile by ducking out of the room. 

“When’s the next time I can see you?” I ask Dean as we sit in the car, down the street from my house. He lets out a deflated sigh and looks down. “I don’t know. I have a busy week ahead of me. But I’ll call and text you as much as I can,” he tells me. I let out a sigh myself. “Okay, a little distance may do us some good,” we have been joined at the hip for the last couple of weeks. He nods his head in agreement, but his face says otherwise. “Can’t wait to see you again.” It’s so low, I barely catch it. A smile is trying to force its way onto my face but I try to stop it. Fail. “Can’t wait to see you.” We stare at each other a little while longer before he grabs my face and crashes our lips together. 

His tongue slides against my bottom lip and leaves a trail of warmth before forcing its way into my mouth. I suck lightly at his tongue and the sound of his surprise fills the air. Dean’s left hand slides to the back of my neck and my head tilts back because of it, which allows him more access to my mouth. Noises that I’ll make sure to be embarrassed about tomorrow leave my throat and enter the cramped car. 

Dean breaks the kiss and sits back onto his side of the car, catching his breath. “We need to stop before…I do something we’re both not ready for,” he breathes lowly. I nod my head, already knowing what he’s talking about. I grab the shopping bags in the backseat and reach for the car handle. “Alright well see ya later, Deanie.” I say before leaving the car. Dean smiles at the name. “See ya, Prancer,” he says back. I roll my eyes playfully before closing the door and walking toward my house. 

“Where’s mom?” I ask when I enter the house. Renee’s at the kitchen table eating ice cream out of the container. I think about yelling at her for it, but then it’s not my flavor. “She had an event to go to. Won’t be home till late. Went shopping?” She asks, pointing at the bags in my hand with her spoon. “Yeah, Lily and I went to the Water Tower,” I tell her while walking upstairs. She nods her head and gets back to her dessert.


	9. Jacob

“So ya ready for your big dance next week?” For some odd reason, Jacob got switched to my physics class. And guess who gets to sit right by him? Me! I mean this isn’t close to fair! They didn’t do that for me when I wanted to get out of my body conditioning class to classical ballet! Why in the hell does he get that?! I swear they worship his pompous ass at this school. 

“Yes, Jacob, I’m very ready,” I hiss before getting back to the worksheet. “Feisty. I was thinking about goin’,” He says to me, not even heeding my warning. “And why would ya do that, Jacob?” I slam my pencil down and look straight at him. That stupid grin is on his face. The grin he gives you when he thinks he’s won. And I can’t let someone as arrogant as him think they’ve won.

“I can’t support my girl?” He has the nerve to pat me on the back as if I’m his best bud and we go way back. No. No, no, no. “One of your girlfriends is in the recital?” I ask, faking bewilderment. The smile drops from his face fast. “I don’t have any girlfriends. You should know that, Bryn,” he explains in a more serious tone. Now he wants to act like he cares, after we’ve broken up? Whatever, I have Dean. A person I know will treat me way better than he did. A person I haven’t seen in a week and a half. He’s texted and sometimes called, but it’s not the same. 

“Why should I know that? We’re not together, so I wouldn’t know about your life. And we definitely don’t talk to the same people,” I sass. Mr. Kudrow looks our way, but gets back to his drawing of electricity moving through a human. 

“I thought that you’d at least want to know who I’m dating. Like how I want to know about you,” he explains matter-of-factly. My right hand twitches, wanting to slap the shit out of him. I’ve always hated the way he makes you feel like an idiot. He can do it to anybody. “Jacob, who the fuck wants that? If we broke up, that means you don’t talk to me and I don’t talk to you. Nor do you want to know what’s going on in your ex’s life. That’s just-that’s just weird,” I say also in a matter-of-fact voice.

“Tambryn, Jacob, do I need to split the two of you up?” Mr. Kudrow asks, looking right at us. “Yes,” I say. “No, Mr. Kudrow,” Jacob says as the same time as me. What?! The teacher glances between the both of us for awhile before turning around to get back to his teaching. Jesus! Why does every person apart of this school’s staff listen to this kid? 

I slump back into the back of my chair and look at the board. My phone vibrates then and I rush to get it. A smile is on my face in an instant when I see who it is. 

I miss you, it reads.

My fingers get started on the reply. 

Well if someone wasn’t so busy…

“Talking to Dean again?” Jacob asks, craning his neck to look at my phone. I bring it to my chest to block his prying eyes. Jesus, what’s up with this kid? “Why are you in my business?” I ask. He sits back with a smirk. “That was that Dean guy, wasn’t it?” 

“Stop looking over my shoulder. You know it’s creepy for you to do something like that, don’t you?” He shakes his head. “Not really, no.” My phone vibrates before I can say anything back. 

I know, I know. Unfortunately I won’t be back in town until your recital. I had to argue with the board to even let me do that.

My face doesn’t know what expression to show. I want to frown because that’s not until next week. But then I want to smile because he’s making sure that he’ll be able to go to the recital. So, I just settle with biting my lip.

Well at least you’ll be back for that. How’s life without your girlfriend?

I mean it as a joke, but still wanting to know the answer. Finally, the bell rings. I bolt out of the room as fast as I can. But, as luck would have it, Jacob catches up to me. “Tambryn, will ya talk to me?” He asks as he blocks my way to go anywhere else. My eyes bolt around for any sign of Benny or Lily.  
“What is there to talk about, Jacob?” I ask him when my stupid friends are nowhere to be found. For once in his life, he doesn’t have that arrogant smile on his face. He actually looks, dare I say, remorseful. It’s a weird/cute look on him. But uhh, not as cute as Dean, of course. “I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry for the way I treated you.” Whoa, I was defitnitely not expecting that. I guess my face shows how surprised I am because he continues. “It was wrong of me to cheat on you all those times. And to see you texting this dude all the time, it makes me miss what we used to have.”

I can’t help it. I really can’t help the little laugh that leaves me. Is this guy serious?! At the end of our relationship he didn’t even care if I saw him getting cozy with other girls. So no, I’m not going to give him the respect of waiting until he’s gone to laugh in his face. He brought this on himself, really. “What are you asking for, dude?” I ask him. 

Jacob shuffles his feet a bit. I look at the clock. Benny and Lily are gonna be waiting at my locker in a bit, this has to hurry up. “I guess I’m asking for another chance,” he says in a low voice. My phone vibrates and I grab it.

“Excuse me, but I have to answer this. It’s my boyfriend. Bye, Jacob,” I say while walking down the hall.

Terrible, of course. No one here to remind me of how old I am. How about you? How are you holding up without me?

I try to hold back the smile that’s forming, and I know the look on my face is ugly because of it. 

Glad to hear your life is terrible without me. But to answer your question, everything is boring. My ex has been trying to get back with me.

“You know it’s a shame when we can just tell when you’re talking to Dean. You get this stupid grin on your face that just won’t go away. Are we not enough for you, Tambryn?!” Benny asks. I roll my eyes as I put in the combination to open my locker. 

“Is Dean coming to the recital next week?” Lily asks. I nod my head. “Yep, but I won’t see him until that night.” 

Benny grabs his chest dramatically and says, “No! You’re breakin’ my heart.” I roll my eyes and follow the two to the cafeteria. My phone vibrates right when we get a seat. It’s Benny’s turn to get the drinks for us, so that leaves just Lily and me at the corner table. 

But…you’re with me.

Dean’s text makes me smile. Lily lets out a loud sigh next to me and I turn to her. “I wish I could find someone to make me smile like that,” she explains. I pat her back with a smile. 

“You will, darling.” A smirk passes her lips a moment later. “I hope.” As she utters the words, her eyes slide over to the lunch line…where Benny is. Nope! Don’t even wanna think about it right now. I get back to texting Dean.

I know I know. That’s why I just blew him off. Don’t worry. No competition. He’s a douche bag anyway.

Benny comes back with my Arizona Fruit Punch and Sprite for the two of them. “You guys wanna hang out after the recital?” He asks as he takes the biggest swig of Sprite I’ve ever seen, followed by a disgusting burp. “Sure, but what, though?” Lily asks unaffected. We’ve been around each other too long. 

“We’ll figure it out by then,” I say before taking a bite of the turkey sandwich Mom packed for me. Mother never makes me lunch, but she was feeling a little generous this morning and made Renee and I lunches. It’s awesome by the way. 

 

“The school year’s over next week. Excited?” Mom asks as I watch her cook. She’s making some Asian glass noodles soup of some kind. “Yeah, I guess. But I gotta be back there in the fall for the same thing one more time,” I answer. She lets out a sigh and turns around to give me one of her tired smiles. 

“You should still be excited, Bryn. Just one more go and then you’re done. Renee still has four more years to go.” Renee looks up from her worksheet and turns to me with one of her unamused expressions. “Exactly,” is all she says before going back to her homework. “And plus, with you taking so many classes last summer, you’ll be able to graduate earlier,” Mom adds. I huff out a breath. “Not by much. I’ll just graduate in April. Woopty doo,” I say. Mom turns around and gives me her full attention. 

“Will you at least try to be positive, Tambryn? You should be excited. By this time next year, you’ll be starting your life. Getting into trouble, having fun, doing everything you want.” I shrug my shoulders. I guess she’s right. “So what do you plan on doing?” Renee asks. Shouldn’t she be doing her homework? The two are now staring at me expectantly. What do I plan on doing? I can’t say anything about Dean, because then they’d start asking about him. And we all know why they can’t know about him. And I really don’t have any career plans. Do you know how hard it is to get a job as a dancer that doesn’t involve taking off your clothes? Hard, very hard. 

“I’ll figure it out on the way,” is the only answer I give them. They don’t seem crazy about the answer, but thankfully they don’t push the subject. I take that as my cue to go upstairs and into my room.

My phone rings and it’s Dovett. “Hello?” I answer. “I have an idea, baby!” He exclaims. I lean against the headboard and get comfortable. “And what might that be, snookums?” That giggle that I love so much comes through. “After your final, you, me, Dean, and Robbie should go out for dinner.” Everyone wants to do something afterwards. “I don’t know, man. I’m gonna be pretty tired afterward. What about the day after? Summer vacation starts right after. And who the hell is Robbie?” Dovett lets out this dreamy sigh. Oh, gawd. “This new guy I’m dating. Bryn, I’m tellin’ ya, he’s so dreamy.” I roll my eyes. He says this about every new guy he dates. 

“You gave him the goods, didn’t you?” I ask him. There’s a pause on the other end. “Yes…but that has nothing to do with how dreamy he is. He wants to meet you, Tambryn. For some odd reason, you’re all I talk about when I’m with him.” A smirk is on my face. “Dove, are you sure you’re gay?” I tease. My friend snorts before responding. “You’re so manly; it’s hard to tell the difference. But no, you two have the same sick sense of humor, so you just remind me so much of him,” he explains. 

“He sounds perfect, in my opinion. Sure, I’ll see how I’m feeling next week to go hang with you guys.” “So what’s up with you and Dean?” He asks. I huff out a breath. Man, do I miss that guy. “What happened? Did that guy do anything to you, Bryn? Because I can get my brothers to show him the business.” “No, no, no. It’s just that I haven’t seen him in over a week because he’s been on a business trip. And I won’t be able to see him until next week when the recital comes,” I explain my hardship. 

“Aww, you two are so adorable. I wish he was gay, I’d let him fuck me all day long,” Dovett dreams. “Well thank goodness he isn’t,” I roll my eyes. I hear a creak on the other end and then a voice. “My Robbie is here now!” Dove says excitedly. “Is that Tambryn?” Another voice says. Must be Robbie. The smacking of lips comes through the receiver loud and clear. Ugh, like I wanted to hear that. “Yes, it is. Say hi,” Dove says before passing the phone over. 

“Hi, Tambryn, I’m Robbie. I’ve heard so much about you,” Robbie introduces. Aww, he sounds adorable. “Hi, Robbie. I wish I could say the same about you, Dovett just told me about your existence today,” I tell him. He chuckles and says, “Well I’m looking forward to meeting you soon.” “Me, too.” Robbie passes the phone back over to Dovett and his loud breathing comes through. “Bryn I gotta go. Something just came up, hehe, get it? Our dicks are hard, bye!” Then the phone goes dead. Why am I even friends with this guy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a really bad case of writer's block so that's why this chapter is so dry. But the next one will have Dean in it.


	10. The Final

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got my groove back! Even though it didn't exactly take long. Anyway, enjoy!

“Shit, I don’t think we practiced enough!” Benny shouts as he fidgets backstage. Tonight is the big night. Last day of school and the final is all happening right now. We’re next up and this motherfucker doesn’t think he’s ready. “No, you didn’t practice enough. I did my part, Benito,” I tell him as I get my steps right. He gives me a short glare before going back to stumbling over his feet. God, he better not mess this up for me, because I will make sure his summer is complete and utter shit. 

I take a peep through the curtain to see Mom, Renee, and Lily sitting together. No sign of Dean and Dove. I shrug my shoulders. Dove is such a diva, but he’ll be here. “So, are my two star pupils ready?” Mrs. Budois comes outta nowhere. We both turn to face her. “Yeah, we’re ready,” Benny answers hurriedly. Her eyebrow cocks in the air. “That doesn’t sound like a sure answer to me. Good luck to you both. Looks like you’re gonna need it.” She mutters the last part while she walks away. Yep, I’m really going to kill Benny. I grab him and get into our first position for the dance. “We’re going to practice for the next sixty seconds, and you better not fuck it up,” I threaten. He’s looking at me as if I’m Renee. Great, I put the fear of God in him. 

With the copious amounts of fear running through his veins, Benny does great, now as long as he can keep this up when we get on stage. 

“And up next, Juniors: Benito Volteros and Tambryn Caverly with the Flamenco,” the announcer….announces. I roll my eyes as we walk on the big wooden stage. “Why did your name go first?” I mumble. “Because I’m better than you,” he answers. The crowd is still clapping for us, so no one hears our banter but us. I look out into the crowd and see a ball of electric blonde hair that I know belongs to Dovett. He gives me a gigantic wave followed by a kiss and then points to the giant next to him with a smile. I follow his finger to see Dean! A bearded Dean. I try to hide my excitement while he stands there blushing. He gives me a short wave with a shy smile. I wave back before turning to Benny. 

“Saw the love of your life? I did,” Benny mumbles. I roll my eyes, but don’t even give him a response. Focus, dammit. The music that Lily and her dad made starts and we both let out a deep breath as we sway with the music.

A minute and forty five seconds later, we finish the dance. Breathing hard and holding hands, we face the audience who’s standing, clapping their hands. Telling from the ache of my jaw, I’m cheesing hard. I look in the row where my people are. Mom is standing clapping her hands screaming, “That’s my baby! That’s my baby!” And do I see her tearing up? Oh, gawd. Renee’s right next to her with a slight grin on her face, clapping without rhythm with everyone else. Then there’s Lily taking pictures with my mom’s camera, she probably told her to. Dovett is next, blowing thousands of kisses my way, yelling, “You go, girl! That was fabulous!” 

And last but not least, Dean. He has a bright smile on his face and he mouths, “You did great,” to me. That makes my smile brighter. But of course, Benny has to ruin it and pull my hand to tell me that it’s time to exit the stage. “Great way to end the recital and year. Good job you two,” Mrs. Budois’ son congratulates us. We both shake his hand while we try to catch our breaths. He hands us both small bottles of cold water. We thank him as if the water came straight from God. 

We were the last act so after Mrs. Budois gets on the stage to tell all the parents that they should be proud of their children, everyone exits the auditorium and to the lobby to wait for us. I quickly change into my jeans and t-shirt and walk out into the lobby. I keep on the make-up because this crap is going to take awhile to take off and I just don’t feel like it now, especially with Dean right outside. 

The lobby of course, is filled to the brim with people. It takes me awhile to locate everyone. As I make my way over to them, I see Benny with his family. He sees me right when his mom is in the middle of giving his cheeks the biggest smooches they’ve ever seen. He gives me the finger as I pass. I just give him a smile as I’m swept into my mother’s arms unexpectedly. 

“Oh, you did so good, baby! So good!” She yells in my ear. I hug her back. I will never admit it, but her approval is all I needed. “Thanks, mom.” She lets me go, but before she can get too far, she gives me a kiss on the cheek. “You were a’ight,” Renee shrugs. What that really means in Renee World is, ‘Gee Willikers! That was awesome, Bryn!’. But we all know she will never say that. I pet her head for a bit before she pushes my hand away. Then, I’m ushered into a double hug from Dovett and Lily. Their blonde hair stuffed in my mouth. I sputter to get it out. “That was so damn good, Bryn! I’ve been waiting ages to see it, and it was everything and more. You know how to move them hips, girl!” Dove exclaims. My eyes travel over to Dean who’s looking at his feet with a slight smile. 

“Bryn this is Dean Maverick. You may have seen him at one of the galas. He works with Dovett’s dad and wanted to see if the school would be a good fit for his son,” Mom introduces. I look over to Mr. Maverick and offer him my hand and act like this is our first time ever meeting. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Maverick. I’m Tambryn,” I say. Dean plays along and takes my hand in his, shaking it. “Nice to meet you, Tambryn. You’re a very talented dancer. You must’ve had a lot of practice,” he responds. My breath hitches as I remember all the times we’ve practiced at his condo. He said that shit on purpose!

I slide my hand out of his, damn he’s soft. “I did,” is all I can say. “So what are you gonna do now? Going back home or what?” Dovett interrupts, giving me a minor glare at our antics. Yeah, I guess we should’ve turned it down a bit. But he started it! 

I look over to Lily and she moves her eyes over to the direction of Dean. I slightly nod my head. “I was gonna go out with Lily and Benny,” I tell everyone. “Well we’ll celebrate some other time,” Mom says. She gives me one more kiss before her and Renee leave. “You guys were clearly fucking each other with your eyes,” Dovett reprimands us. Dean looks like a child that just got his toy taken from him. “Well sorry, dad. I haven’t seen him in a long time,” I defend. Dovett rolls his eyes and says, “Whatever just tone it down when you’re around your mom. That goes for you too, Dean.” Dean nods his head, understanding. 

That’s when Benny comes over; he’s finally detached himself from his mom. “So what we doin’?” He asks. Lily grabs Benny’s hand and is ready to pull him away from us. “We’re not doing anything. Bryn’s going with Dean,” she says. Benny looks between Dean and me before he’s whisked away by the best friend ever. “We’re celebrating tomorrow, you guys. I don’t care what you say,” Dovett waves his finger at us while he talks. Dean and I nod our heads like obedient children. Dove has that affect on people. He stows his finger and smiles at us. 

“Okay, bye guys. Have a good time,” he says as he too leaves. Now it’s just Dean and I, and a room full of people. 

“My car’s outside,” is all Dean says. I nod my head and follow him to the front doors. He brings the black Camaro just for me. When we get in the car, I throw my changing bag in the backseat and the next thing I know, I’m being pulled by my neck to lips. Dean’s lips. I immediately relax and kiss him back. My arms wrap around his neck as he scoots the driver’s seat back so we can fit better. His hands grip either side of my waist as we deepen the kiss. I missed this. I missed him sneaking his tongue in my mouth, I missed the soft touch of his big hands, I just missed him. 

And he seems to have missed me with what I feel growing below my butt. I don’t know what possessed me in this moment, maybe it was the being away for two and a half weeks, but I snake one hand down between us until I grip his erection. He bucks up into my hand and lets out a groan on my lips. Listen, I’m still a virgin who’s touching her very first penis ever. I don’t know what the hell to do with it! But, from listening to Benny talk and talk about all the head and sex he’s gotten, I have a faint idea about what to do. 

I move my hand along his dress pants-covered length slowly. Jesus, this guy is big. I have to scoot down a bit to rub the whole thing! Dean whines and pulls me back up to his lips. I slide my tongue into his mouth and he immediately sucks on it. I dip it in and out of his mouth and he loves it. But, we’re in the parking lot of my high school, and I’m not ready for what would defitnitely come next. So I remove my hand from his nether regions and sit back up, looking him in the eyes. But that seems to do nothing but turn him on even more. Oh, shit! I’m sitting right on his dick! I roll over to the passenger’s side and sit. 

We catch our breaths before he starts up the car. “That got intense,” Dean says. I nod my head in agreement. “Being away from each other would do that,” I say. Dean seeks out my hand and holds it in his on the center console. 

We arrive to his condo shortly after. It’s exactly the same since the last time I’ve seen it. Dean wraps his arms around my waist from behind and stuffs his head into my neck. “I missed you,” he mumbles. The vibration of his words tickles my neck. “I missed you, too,” I respond. When he’s had his moment, Dean unwraps himself from me and leads me to his bedroom. “Dude, I don’t know how you didn’t smell me. I have to go take a shower,” I tell him, smelling my arm pit. Dean turns around with a bouquet of blue and purple roses in his hands. I’m slack jawed. I’ve never seen blue and purple roses, nor has anyone given me flowers before. 

He stretches them toward me a little more so I can take them. I take them in hand and look at them more closely. “How did you get these?” I ask. Dean stuffs his hands in his pockets. His hard-on is gone. “I had to go to Logan Square to get someone to dye them. I knew you wouldn’t like traditional roses, so I had to get them more like…you,” he explains, embarrassed. “Why do you sound so scared?” I ask him. He shrugs his shoulders. “I didn’t know if you’d like them or not.”  
I place the roses on the dresser and wrap my arms around his neck. Because of this, my feet are dangling above the carpeted floor. All that’s holding me up is Dean’s arms that are wrapped around my waist. “Dean, I love them, ya silly goose. You were right, I would’ve slapped you in the head with red roses,” I say before kissing his nose. His face brightens up and those beloved dimples shine through. “Now let me go. I’m tired and I need to take a shower.” Dean obeys and sets me back on the ground. 

“I’ll make us something to eat while you get ready,” I hear Dean say as I close the bathroom door. The shower is as warm and comforting as I remembered. I stay in there longer than expected. It was just so perfect. I step out of the bathroom and all the mist rushes out around me. The smell of whatever Dean’s cooking wafts into my nostrils. “What are you making?” I ask while standing in front of his bedroom. Dean waves me off. “You’ll see in about five minutes, I’ll bring it in there when it’s done. You just get dressed,” he says, not looking away from what he’s cooking. 

I shrug my shoulders and do what he says. I go into his walk-in closet to find the clothes he bought me. The over sized maroon shirt and black boy shorts stick out to me. I pull it on and open the door. Dean’s coming my way with a tray of bow tie pasta and sliced chicken. Smells perfect. “It’s chicken and vegetable pasta salad,” Dean tells me. “Smells good,” I say while hopping on the bed. Well, at least trying to anyway. He sets the tray of food down on the bedside table before helping me up on the bed. “Thanks,” I say. He nods his head with a smile. “I know you’re tired. I’ll be right back. I left the drinks in the kitchen,” he says before dashing off again. 

I take a plate from the tray and dig in. And of course, it’s glorious. I haven’t eaten since this morning and it’s now nine o’clock at night. This is the longest I’ve ever gone without food. But, I know this is gonna be something to fill me up, with the chicken and pasta, it defitnitely will. Dean comes back in with a glass of iced tea in one hand and a glass of red wine in the other. “You couldn’t wait, could you?” He says playfully while getting on the bed.

He passes me the glass with the tea in it and I gulp half of it down. “Nope, haven’t eaten in forever,” I say before going back to the food. “Long time for you,” he mumbles. “I know, right?! So what’s up with the beard?” I add emphasis to my question by rubbing my index finger through it. I don’t use this word to describe a lot of people, but Dean looks sexy as hell with the beard. It’s neatly trimmed and jet black. “Why, you don’t like it? I can shave it off,” Dean rambles. Always the worrier. “No, no, I love it. Just asking why you have it,” I hurry up to console him. He visibly relaxes from my words. 

“Well, usually when I’m traveling as much as I was the past couple weeks, I don’t have much time to shave. It only looks this good because I took the time out to get groomed because I was going to your recital,” he explains. I nod my head and go back to my food. “I like it, makes you look sophisticated.” He grunts out a laugh. “Why thank you, Tambryn. I liked you in the make-up.” I look up at him and he looks alarmed at his words. “Not that you’re ugly without it. It was just a nice change to see you in it on stage,” he clarifies. I give him a reassuring smile. “Thanks, I’m glad you like my bare face.”

“So why were you gone for so long?” I ask while Dean massages my feet. After all the dancing, he figured that my feet were hurting and insisted on massaging them. Best damn decision I’ve made in awhile. The man can rub some feet. He rolls his eyes at the thought. “I guess I gave my son too much responsibility and he didn’t deliver. He authorized the wrong amount of watts to go to a plant in Missouri. Then he insulted one of our top customers down in Springfield, so I had to go clear that up before we lost the deal all together. It was just a lot to do,” he explains. 

I wince in sympathy. “So what are you gonna do with your son?” “He’s on probation from the company so he has absolutely no power for two months. He’s angry, but he has to learn that he can’t just mess up like that, and leave me to clean it up for him.” I nod my head, not knowing what to say to that. 

“Dovett wants to have lunch tomorrow,” Dean says after awhile. I huff out a laugh. “He told you, too?” I say. He nods his head while adding extra pressure between my toes. “Yeah, it was all he could talk about on our way there. Oh, and his boyfriend, Robbie whose so dreamy,” Dean does Dove’s voice so perfect on the last part that I bunch up in a ball of laughter, making me yank my feet from his grip. Dean doesn’t mind, he just unravels me so he can lay on top of me like he always does. 

“That was the best impression of Dove I’ve ever heard. Even I can’t do his high pitched voice,” I tell him as my arms wrap around him. “Thank you, Tambryn. But he’s gonna call one of us with the details tomorrow,” Dean continues on. I quirk an eyebrow at him. “You two are swapping numbers now?” The shake of his head saying no, rubs against my chest. “No, he said that he found it in the phone book, which is scary. I didn’t even know my number was in the phone book,” he explains. 

Sounds like something Dovett would do. “Knowing him he’s going to pick something super high classed with a view of the city. He’s such a queen,” I yawn. Dean gives me a peck on the cheek before rolling onto his side of the bed. “Get some sleep, you’re exhausted,” he says while turning out the light. I nod my head and do what he says. Not that it’s hard anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review or drop them kudos if you enjoyed the chapter. I felt that I had to redeem myself from the last chapter /.\


	11. Swanky

The next day comes and Dean, as always, is already up, and has already made breakfast (French toast, eggs, and bacon). “Do you ever get take-out?” I ask him while I dump powdered sugar over my toast. Dean’s eyebrows rise at the amount on there. “Yeah, sometimes. But you’ve seen me eat out,” he says. I shrug my shoulders, he’s got a point. But the guy just cooks so much. Hehe. The dude said ‘eat out’.

“Anyway, Dovett called me. He said to meet him and Robbie at Everest,” Dean tells me. I stop mid-chew and look over at him. “Isn’t Everest a college?” I ask. He quirks a smile and shakes his head no. “Well, it is, but there’s also a restaurant that has the same name.” “Is it pricy?” He shrugs his shoulders. “I sometimes have my business meetings there,” that’s his answer, and it’s enough for me. “I knew he’d pick somewhere expensive. The dude is such a freaking diva.” Dovett and I are going to have a talk about him trying to spend my boyfriend’s money, because we all know who’s going to have to pick up the tab. “It’s a nice place,” Dean politely defends. “I bet it is, but Dovett’s ass can’t afford it. He works for my mom and my mom can’t afford that place.” 

Dean finally gets what I’m saying. But instead of the frown that I was expecting, there’s a smile. “He’s fine, I’ll pay for it then,” he reasons. He just doesn’t get it. 

After breakfast, Dean goes out on the balcony to take an “important phone call” while I sit in the living room watching TV, acting as if I’m not eavesdropping. I don’t even know what the girls on ‘The Bad Girls Club’ are arguing about anymore, I’m that wrapped up in Dean’s phone conversation. He’s out there for I don’t know how long, pacing back and forth, looking tense as ever. With me getting so caught up with trying to make out the words of the conversation, I don’t even notice when Dean turns around and faces me.

My eyes widen in surprise and I make to turn back around, but then he shakes his head at me and mouths, “Just a second”, before going back to his intense conversation. I nod my head before going back to the unnecessary fight on the screen.

About ten minutes later, I get a text and it’s from Dean. Really? You’re right outside dude.

I’m done; can you come out here, please?

I leave the TV on, and slide the door open that leads to the large patio. Dean’s standing at the far edge of the space, gripping the railing tightly. “Something wrong, Deanie?” I ask. Hoping that using the nickname would calm him, and it does, his shoulders visibly relax before he looks over his shoulder at me. He stretches out his arm, silently telling me to come over. I take a deep breath, still kind of afraid of heights, before walking over. 

When I touch the railing and look over it to the far, far away ground, Dean gently pulls me by the waist, so I’m flush against him. I don’t push the subject; I just let him hold me as I silently have a panic attack about being this close to the edge. 

“Liza wants to bring her new boyfriend on the vacation next month,” Dean finally says. Is that why he’s so mad? Because his ex-wife is bringing her new beau? He needs to clear this up, because right now, it’s starting to sound like jealousy. “What’s wrong with that?” I ask. Dean sighs and explains, “The problem I have with it is that the vacation was made with the kids in mind. She’s only bringing her boyfriend along because she thinks I was going to bring my assistant, too, which she thinks is you if you remember.” Oh, I do remember. And how she went on to tell me and the store how great of a fuck Dean is.

“So she thinks I’m coming?” I ask. Dean confirms my question with a grunt. “Did you tell her I wasn’t?” “I did! But that woman just doesn’t listen. She just talks, talks, and talks at you. It’s hard to ever get a single word in. She just thinks I’m lying and you’re going to show up just for me to spite her,” Dean explains. I think for awhile; what I’m about to say may not help, but I could try. “Do you want me to talk to her?” It’s quiet for a bit. 

“Can you come with me?” It’s the most muffled I’ve ever heard him. I turn him to face me and he lets it happen. He’s got that desperate look on his face and it’s absolutely adorable. “What?” I ask. “Come to Maine with me. It’s only a week and I’ll pay for everything. Please, Tambryn?” Absolutely not! Me being surrounded by a family that I’ve never met; and the two that I have met either don’t like me, or I’m dating. And those two used to be married! The idea sounds terrible. But, I can’t just tell him that his idea is bad.

“Dean, I wouldn’t know anyone there. Plus, it’s a family vacation, and we’re not family,” I tell him. Dean’s lips pout a bit, hurt. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, but it’s the truth. “Her boyfriend isn’t family either, but he’s gonna be there. Please Tambryn, you’ll have so much fun there. The house is big, you’ll have your own room, and there’s going to be lots to do. It’ll be a brand new experience for you,” he tries to persuade me. It does sound nice. And anyway, all I’m going to do over the summer is the usual things that happen every single year: going to the beach, getting forced to help mom cater, hearing about Benny’s sexcapades, getting in trouble around the city, and occasionally smoking a bowl in Lily’s basement. Switching it up a bit shouldn’t be that bad, right? 

Dean holds my hands in his and brings them up to his lips. He’s not kissing my hands, just ghosting them over his mouth, waiting patiently for my answer. How can I deny a guy who’s as adorable as him? “Why do you want me to come so bad?” I just need to know. Dean moves my hands to his chin so he can answer. “Because you calm me, Tambryn. Just touching you calms me. The only reason I do these vacations is because of the kids. It’s not that fun, but with you being there, I’ll probably finally have fun,” he explains. Aww! I can’t even handle him right now, I just can’t. Dean knows he’s got me right where he wants me just by the small smirk on his face. 

“Okay, I’ll go,” I finally tell him. Dean lets that smirk become a full blown smile before wrapping my arms around his waist, which pulls us closer together, and then grabs my face and pulls me into a kiss. When we part, Dean still has that wide smile on his face. “Thank you, Prancer. I promise you, you’ll have fun,” he says as he leads me back inside. I know I will, because he’ll be there with me.

Dean stops dead in his tracks when he sees what’s on the television. “You watch this, too?” He asks. My eyes nearly pop out of my head. Dean Maverick, supplier of the city’s electricity, classiest man in town watches Bad Girls Club?! Oh gawd, this is too much. I burst into laughter, leaning on a dining room chair. Dean just stares at me with a small smirk on his face. “What’s so funny?” He asks. I try to catch my breath. “That you…watch… Bad Girls… Club,” I explain while focusing on breathing right. “What do you expect me to watch, the Bloomberg Channel all day?” “Yes!” He starts to laugh with me after that.

“Whatever. We need to get ready to meet your friends,” Dean reasons after we’ve calmed down. I straighten back up and follow him to the bedroom. He opens up the closet door where he picks out what he’s going to wear (a simple white t-shirt with a denim jean jacket on top and dark blue Levi’s, and the shoes are pretty sharp, too. I remember the brand from seeing my uncle in them, black Clark’s Originals boots). Whoa, he looks like a total bad ass extraordinaire. All he needs are two full sleeve tattoos and Dean can have my panties.

He looks nice, so I have to find something that’s equally hot. I grab a dress that’s gray at my bust, and blue on the sheery bottom. Not that much of a fierce fashion statement, but it’s still nice. Especially when Dean stares at you for a good solid twenty seconds before saying you look gorgeous. 

Dean takes out the black Lexus SUV today and it’s my second favorite behind the Camaro, of course. “You know we can choose somewhere else to go, right? I mean we don’t have to go to this expensive ass restaurant. Matter of fact, I want you to pick somewhere else,” I say as we stop at a red light. Dean gives me a small smile before turning back to the road, right when the light changes to green.

“Tambryn, I’m telling you it’s fine. If this is where the boy wants to meet, then we’ll go. No big deal,” he says. I slump in my chair, crossing my arms. “But I’m the one who had the recital, I should pick,” I murmur. The smile on Dean’s face disappears. “If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to. Do you wanna go somewhere else?” He asks. I do want to go somewhere else that’s less expensive, but if I say yes, then we’d only be leaving because I wanted to. “No, not a problem.” Dean nods his head and we’re silent for the rest of the ride.

“Tell ya what, when we get to Portland, I’ll take you to the best restaurants and places there. Would that be fun?” Deans asks as we walk into Everest. I give him a sincere, but small grin. He’s the nicest soul ever, but he still doesn’t get it. “Sounds perfect,” I tell him. That relieves him and he walks right up to the concierge to talk to the man behind the podium. The man immediately spreads a wide smile on his face as he recognizes who’s walking up to him. They exchange a few words before Dean waves me over as the host walks away, leading us to our seat. As we walk through the building I notice everything around me. It’s a pretty swanky place. It’s a French restaurant so there are a lot of soft cream colors all throughout. The blue-ish, gray-ish curtains are pulled back to reveal the view of the city. I never knew how many restaurants were in the sky, until now. 

The host turns around as he’s walking to talk to us. “Would you like a booth or table?” The man asks. Dean turns to me and says, “You can pick that if you want.” So he does get the point I was trying to make. “Can we not get a table by the windows?” Dean gives me a small smile and nods. He turns back to the host. “No table by the window, Francis.” Francis nods his head and takes us to an area that looks almost like V.I.P. 

The table he brings us to is right by this beautiful cream colored wall with large roses carved into it. The table isn’t exactly as far away from the window as I’d like, but it seems at this place you can’t escape the view anyway. 

I look around this swanky ass restaurant, and I’m pretty impressed. “I don’t know how you and Dovett have the same tastes, but it’s pretty cool,” I tell him. Dean gives me the most adorable rich guy chuckle. 

A few minutes later, the host leads Dovett and a tall man with brown hair and green eyes, oh, and a cute sprinkle of freckles around his cheeks. They’re almost dressed alike with their skinny leisure suits, but Dovett’s wearing a light blue and the taller one is wearing a black one. Robbie. It has to be Robbie. He’s absolutely adorable and… muscular. Jeezus, is Dovett sure this guy is gay? I mean, I know gays come in all shapes and sizes, but this guy looks straighter than Benny! My dear Dove is gonna have to explain this one.

Dean and I stand up when we see them. Dovett nearly rams into me with his arms wrapping me in a warm embrace. “You sit by me and Robbie sits with Dean. This place is filled with Mavs Incorporated execs, you two sitting so close can raise questions about you and your age,” my friend whispers in my ear, when we part. How does he know who’s here? Probably something on the internet. Dovett goes off to capture Dean in an awkward hug while Robbie and I stand there, just looking at each other. Man this guy is beautiful. Nope, this guy cannot be gay. Is this the same guy I talked to on the phone?

Robbie outstretches his arms to me with a friendly smile. “Hug?” He asks. I nod my head and walk forward. “I’m Robbie,” he murmurs. “Are you okay?” I ask him when we part. He nods his head excitedly. “Yeah, just nervous,” he explains in that high, grainy voice of his. I nod my head and take my seat next to Dean, beating Dovett to it. His eyes narrow on me. I stick out my tongue and point to the seat next to Robbie for him to sit in. Dovett turns dramatically and takes his seat. 

“So how did you hear about this place, Dovett?” Dean asks him. They’re sitting right across from each other. “One of my old sugar daddies used to take me here. I’ve loved the food ever since,” the blonde explains. Good grief, could’ve lied about that, especially with the new boyfriend sitting right here. 

I look over to Robbie who flinches at the words before going back to looking nervous. “Dude, why do you look so anxious? You’re almost as nervous as Dean,” I ask him. Dean nips my hip, making me jump a bit. “It’s just that-uhh, Dovett talks about you all the time. It’s like I’m meeting someone from his family right now. Sorry,” Robbie says while slumping a bit in his chair.

What? Dovett talks about me? To his boyfriend? All the time? My eyes slide over to Dove and his cheeks are a bit red as he stares at me. A wide, mischievous smile crosses my face. 

“Oh gawd. Shut up, Tambryn,” Dovett says before giving the window a few yards away all his attention. “You talk about me, Dove?” I ask. He doesn’t answer. I turn to Robbie and ask, “What does he say about me?” Robbie’s eyes look to the ceiling to think. “About you dancing, and you threatening his life every two seconds, but he loves it, because that’s just you two’s relationship. And about how you’re dating someone who’s old enough to be his dad, but the guy is a hunk.” Wow, he’s told this guy everything. I like him, though. 

“You two sure do tell each other everything,” Dean mumbles as he looks between Dovett and me. I hope he’s not mad. Dovett pats Dean’s hand with a smile. “I’m best friends with your girlfriend, Mr. Maverick. Of course she tells me everything.” 

“Hello, my name is Frederick and I’ll be your waiter today. Can I start you off with anything?” I didn’t even notice this guy get over here; I haven’t even looked at the menu yet. “You know what you want?” Dean whispers to me. I quickly look at the menu and can’t identify what any of it says. It’s all in French. Damn, I knew I should’ve taken a language at school. 

“Can you just order for me?” I whisper back after putting the menu back on the table. He nods his head with a smile. “Aww, so adorable. Ordering your girl’s food for her,” Dovett coos with his hands clasped under his chin. Ugh. I kick him under the table. 

“The lady will have the dry aged New York steak with the pomme mousseline. And I’ll have the Magret of Mulard Duck with the marinated cabbage. Oh! And bring a bottle of wine for the table and a pitcher of iced tea.” I’ve never been so turned on by someone just naming off food names in my life, but there’s a first time for everything.

Dean takes both of our menus and passes them to the waiter and then smiles at the dazed look that I know is on my face. “You know what I ordered for you?” He asks. I nod my head. “Yeah, a steak… from New York. I don’t know what the palm mousline is though,” I tell him. Dean chuckles at my answer. “Pomme Mousseline. It’s just some fancy mashed potatoes.” I nod my head. I do love mashed potatoes. 

After we’ve all ordered our food, and the waiter’s gone, Dean breaks the silence first. “So Robbie, what kind of work are you in?” He asks. Robbie clears his throat before answering. “I, uhh, I’m an intern over at the firm on Roosevelt,” he says. Dean looks impressed. “You’re interested in law?” “Yeah, I want to be a defense lawyer.” “You know, I’m friends with Patrick Cane,” Dean says as he points to Robbie. His eyes widen as he says, “Really? He’s the reason why I wanted to become a lawyer. I was stoked when I got an internship there!” 

This conversation gets even more boring by the minute. Dovett and I share a certain look before he nods in the direction of the bathroom and I nod my head, yes. “Umm, guys, Dove and I are gonna head to the bathroom,” I say as my friend and I stand. “Oh, the bathrooms aren’t unisex,” Dean points out. Dove and I both snicker. 

“Please, every place I go I’m mistaken for a girl,” the blonde says before we leave the table. As we make our way to the restroom, eyes follow us. What the fuck? “Why is everyone staring at us?” I whisper to Dovett. Dove doesn’t notice or he doesn’t care, but I’m gonna go with the latter. “We’re unique, honey.” That’s all he gives me. 

“So where did you find that stud?” I ask when we get in the restroom. We just sit in the lounge part with the sofa and talk. Dove tries to stifle a giggle. “We met at a club that I was bartending at and he was sitting at the end of the bar looking like a lost pitbull. So I gave him a free drink and just started talking to him. He’s fresh out of the closet, so I’m his first boyfriend!” That explains why he’s so nervous. I knew it wasn’t because of me…entirely. “That explains why he’s so manly,” I mutter. Dove taps my hand and says, “I know right?! But you haven’t seen nothing, honey. You should see him fuck me into the mattress.” For some reason, I wouldn’t mind seeing that. 

“Good to know,” I tell him. He nods his head in agreement. “So how was last night?” Dove gives me a little wink. I smile at him. “We made out in his car and I felt his pee wee,” I tell him. Dovett’s eyes widen just like I expected. “You saw it? He’s ginormous, isn’t he?” He’s so excited about this. But, we are on one of his favorite subjects, so I shouldn’t expect anything less. “No, I didn’t see it. I was touching it through his pants and it was huge.” The door to the restroom opens and in comes a middle-aged brunette woman. She takes a look at me, and then looks at Dovett before proceeding to one of the stalls.

My friend leans his head back on one of the comfy pillows with a content sigh. “I knew he was packing an elephant trunk.” Oh, gawd. His word choice is disgusting. “That’s not all either. He asked me to go on his family vacation next month,” I say it as low as I can, hoping he won’t hear it. The blonde bolts upright. “What do you mean you’re going on a family vacation with him?” He whispers in a harsh tone. I shrug my shoulders and say, “He begged me to and he’s paying for everything so…” Dove shakes his head. “No, girl. Do you know how uncomfortable that’s gonna be? To be surrounded not only by his kids, but by his ex-wife!” “I know, but he said that it’d be fun. And I highly doubt that we’ll be around his ex-wife all that much.”

I just remembered that I haven’t told anyone about my encounter with Liza. Dovett would absolutely love her. “I can only hope you won’t be. Let’s get back,” he says before getting up.

When we get back to the table, Dean and Robbie are still engulfed in conversation. “So no one bothered you two, I suppose?” Dean asks us. We both shake our heads and Dovett tries to discreetly look Dean up and down. I roll my eyes, shouldn’t have told him anything. “Nope, as always. So what were you two talking about?” Dove asks. “Robbie here was just telling me how he just came out a few months ago,” Dean answers. I don’t know why, but I find it so attractive for Dean to be so comfortable with this kind of subject.

Dovett brightens up and hugs Robbie’s muscular arm. “Yep! He’s the first guy I’ve been with that’s dated girls. And I’m his first boy. Isn’t it exciting?!” Dean smiles out of amusement. “It really is.”

Our food comes shortly after, and all the plates look so sexy. My steak is as big as Dean’s hand and the mashed potatoes are in a cute little bowl with chives on top. Honestly, the potatoes look like ice cream. “Is there any A1 sauce here?” I whisper to Dean who’s cutting up his duck. He nods his head and tells the waiter to go get some. “The steak is good without it in my opinion,” he says to me. I shake my head no, while cutting the steak in pieces. “She can’t eat steak without it. It’s like her little addiction,” Dovett says over his mouthful of roasted chicken. I nod my head, it’s true. 

“Maverick!” Someone yells. The sound is like a deep shrill that came outta nowhere. I don’t know where to look. Dean stands up with a grin on his face. A man dressed in a black suit and hair gelled back comes into view. He looks like a total douche bag if I’m being honest. They shake hands and the man looks at the table. “Haven’t seen you in a long time,” the man says. “I know, Greyson. You work in a different department now,” Dean says. “Yeah, keeping me busy. So who is this beautiful lady?” The man I guess is named Greyson asks while he looks over to me. Dean huffs out a warning grunt to the guy before introducing me. “This is Tambryn, my assistant.” They must work together since I’m being introduced as the assistant.

I hold out my hand for him to shake and he does. His hand lingers a bit too long for me, though. “Hopefully you’re just the assistant,” he says as he winks at me. Ugh, this guy is such a loser. “She has a boyfriend, if that’s what you were getting at,” Dove, also known as the best person in the world, butts in. Greyson’s arrogant smile falters and what’s left in its wake is an embarrassed blush. “Well, I hope to see you around the building sometime, see ya, Mav,” the guy says before leaving to console his ego. 

“Would you like dessert, Dovett?” Dean asks as he takes his seat with a smile on his face. Dovett’s cheeks redden. “Oh, stop it, you sly dog. Flattery will get you everywhere.” This guy watches too many old movies.

Lunch comes to an end and we’re standing outside the tall building, saying our good byes. “This was fun, we should do it again,” Robbie says. I nod my head and say, “Yeah, we should. But next time we should go somewhere we can all afford, and not just one of us.” I look straight at Dovett. He gives me a bright smile, the one where his tongue sticks out a bit. “You’re totally right,” he says. I give Robbie an extra hug just to rub it in Dovett’s face before the valet pulls up with Dean’s car and we get in.

“So did you enjoy your food? You barely touched it,” Dean says as we drive in the direction of my house. I huff, had to go at some point. “I loved it, it was just so much. Trust me, it’s gonna get eaten,” I reassure him. He nods his head, agreeing. “What was with that Greyson guy?” I ask. Dean’s face turns to stone. “Just some wannabe player from work. The only reason why he’s still there is because my dad was best friends with his dad, so before he died, my dad made me promise that I give every person in that bloodline a job. That’s the only reason why he’s there,” he explains. “Is he that bad?” Dean nods his head. “The way he treated you is just the tip of the ice berg with the way he treats the women in his department. It’s absolutely nauseating.” 

A few minutes later, we park down the street from my house and I see my mom’s car outside…with three bikes on the lawn. I roll my eyes. “What?” Dean asks. “Renee’s friends are here,” I tell him. He chuckles as he notices the bikes. “Well, at least it’s summer break; we can see each other more.” He’s got a point. Shit, I don’t even plan on seeing Renee this summer. “So when can you come over?” He asks. Mom may still want to go out, and I gotta hang out with Benny and Lily. “Maybe in a few days. I’ll call you,” I answer. Dean nods his head as he relaxes into the driver’s seat. “Gimme kiss,” he mumbles adorably. 

I roll my eyes with a smile on my face when I notice him not making any move to kiss me. I lean all the way in until our lips meet. At least he puckered his lips. Dean pulls me closer by the waist, making me have to lean on his chest. He’s weird, so he spends about a minute and a half just sucking on my tongue, and I just dip it in his mouth, encouraging him. But I can’t deny I love it. Soon though, I pull away and reach for the door handle. “We’re disgusting,” I mutter. Dean lets out a chuckle as he wipes around his mouth. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” I give him a grin, before telling him I’ll call him soon, then stepping out of the car. “Uhh, make it soon,” Dean tells me through his car window. I nod my head before walking down the street.

When I open the door, Mom’s at the kitchen table studying files. She looks up when she hears me come through the door. “Hey, honey. I was wondering when you were gonna be back. Had a good time?” She asks. A small grin comes across my face at her excitement to see me. I set my food on the table and take a seat next to her. “Yeah, it was fun, where are the pre-teens?” I ask, not hearing any noise. “In the backyard doing something they shouldn’t be doing,” my mom answers, shaking her head a bit. “As long as it’s keeping ‘em quiet, I’m on board,” I lean back till my head hits the back of the chair. Mom bumps my arm jokingly before closing the manila folders in front of her.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” she begins. Oh, crap. I hate when she starts a conversation like that. Something bad always happens. “About?” I ask. She turns her whole body my way. “I just feel that I haven’t seen a lot of you lately.” I let out a relieved sigh. I thought I was in some real trouble. “Well, you’ve had lots of events to go to lately. And I’ve had practice to go to,” I defend. She nods her head in agreement. “You’re right, you’re right. We’ve all been busy. So that’s why I feel we should go out. And you did just ace that final.” I feel myself smile. It always feels good to know that I’ve made her proud. 

“What do you think we should do?” I ask her. She points back to me. “Hey, this is all for you. You pick the place.” That sounds about right, Dovett can take some lessons. “Let’s go to the sky deck,” I tell her. A bright smile comes across my mother’s face. “Great. Gimme a few hours then I’ll be ready to go,” she tells me. 

I nod my head and begin to leave. “Everest? How did you get into Everest?” She asks, just when I’m about to exit the premises. Dammit. “Benny’s older brother works there, he charged it to the restaurant,” I lie. Mom winces. “He should be careful. An up-scale place like that can catch on to stuff like that easily.” I give her a short nod before heading to the kitchen…where I can breathe, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long, ain't it? Don't forget to review!


	12. Tequila & Juice

Why did I choose to go to the sky deck? I mean, I know that I have a fear of heights, so what was I thinking? “I’m surprised you even made it _that_ far?” Renee mumbles a few feet away. I don’t even grace her with a response. “You’re doing fine, honey,” Mom encourages. The world looks so small from up here, I can see everything. And I thought Dean’s place had a view. Well…it does, just not this intense. I step down from the deck and back where safety is. “So, where to next?” My mom asks. I’m still pretty full from eating at Everest, so that’s out. Renee shrugs her shoulders and says, “Wanna get some ice cream?” I shrug a shoulder with a nod. “Sure. Cold Stone,” I answer.

 

“So what did you guys think about that Dean guy that came with Dove?” Mom asks as we sit in the creamery. I nearly choke on the glob of cake batter ice cream in my throat. Thankfully, no one seems to notice. “He seemed quiet,” Renee answers before me. “Why do you ask?” I say as I shovel more ice cream in my mouth. Mom shrugs. “Just asking. We’ve seen him before at events, just never really talked to him,” she explains. I nod my head; she doesn’t suspect a thing, thank God.

 

“He seemed like a nice person,” I say. Renee lets out that cruel laugh. “He liked you. I saw the way he looked at you when y’all shook hands.” I f-ing hate this girl. Mom flicks her ear and says, “Chill out, Renee. He’s older than me.” That’s a weird fact that my brain chose to leave out. My little sister leans back in her chair to console her injured ear.

 

“I still think he likes her,” she mumbles under her breath. I’m gonna have to watch this one. “Ignoring everything Renee just said, since you two are on break, I wanted to spend more time with my girls,” Mom says, changing the subject. Thanks, Mom, you’re all right with me. “If we’re gonna do the family thing, then we can’t do it Saturday through Tuesday, and the first week of July,” Renee lists. I roll my eyes at her demands. Where the hell this bitch gotta be, the playground? Wait! If we’re naming where we gotta be, then I gotta tell her that I can’t do it next month.

 

“I really can’t do it next month, either,” I chime in. Mom sits back with a pout on her face. “Since when did my daughters get so busy?” Renee and I just shrug our shoulders at that, neither of us wanting to say the obvious. (As soon as she started the catering business, she was never home, so we just found other things to do.)

 

“Well, I’ll catch you two before the summer is over,” Mom reasons. Right after that borderline awkward conversation, I see Benny and Lily walking past the shop. I wave erratically to get their attention and they wave back just as excited. “You guys are dorks,” Renee snorts. I stop waving to give her a glare. My friends enter the creamery and head for our table. “Hey, Lily. Hey, Benny.” Mom says cheerily. “Hi, Ms. Caverly,” they say in unison. Such the charmers. “Where were you guys off to?” I ask them. “We were on our way to the lake, wanna come?” Lily asks. She looks extra happy right now, and she did say they were gonna go to the lake. That’s code for, “We’re gonna go smoke by those giant rocks on the beach that blocks out any prying eyes.”

 

I stand and take my ice cream with me. “Mom, I’m gonna go hang with them,” I tell her. She looks a bit defeated, but nods her head anyway. “I guess the family bonding has to be cut short. All right, be safe you three.” A pang of guilt goes through my body, but like she said earlier, before this summer’s over we’ll have that bonding she’s been craving for us. We take the bus straight over to the beach, and then walk ten minutes to the giant rocks.

 

While Benny rolls the joint and packs the bowl, Lily and I enjoy the shade the rocks provide. It’s pretty romantic, really, the water’s like yards away from our feet. “So where you guys go to get that?” I ask them. “That weird kid in Lily’s band class,” Benny answers, sealing the joint. My nose scrunches at the mention of him. “Don’t worry, he has good shit,” Lily reassures, noticing the disgust in my face. I lay back down, trusting them. “God, I haven’t smoked in so long. Almost forgot the feeling altogether.”

 

“I smoked at a party last night,” Benny mumbles, taking the first hit. “Oh, so you don’t invite us to parties anymore?” Lily asks in mock defense. Benny takes his time answering, blowing the smoke out and passing the bowl over to us. I reach out faster than Lily and stick my tongue out at her. “Don’t worry; I just went to smoke all their weed and then leave. Worked out fine,” he answers finally.

 

I grab the lighter and place it over the green weed that’s tinged with a bit of orange, and then light it. The smoke quickly fills my lungs and I keep it there for a moment before breathing out. Benny gave Lily the joint, so I take one more puff before passing it over to him. “There’s a graduation party happening tomorrow night, y’all wanna go to that?” He asks as he struggles to talk over the smoke in his mouth.

 

“But we haven’t graduated, yet,” Lily says. Benny and I both roll our eyes. “Seniors do exist, Lillian,” I mumble. She nods her head with a smile, remembering that they do exist. “We should go, haven’t been to a party with people my own age in awhile,” I say. They show their agreement by taking a puff at the same time.

 

“You guys know what else we should do? Go to that gay pride parade,” Benny announces. The weed is gone and we’re all sated, just sitting back, staring out onto the lake. But Lily and I both have enough energy to snap our heads his way. “You wanna be surrounded by dudes that are attracted to other dudes…and you happen to be a dude yourself?” I ask. I say ‘dude’ a lot. Benny shakes his head for an extremely long time and extremely slowly. “No, no, no. You’re missing the whole point. Girls. Lesbian girls that are interested in having a threesome…with a dude. And that dude is me.” After he’s done with his explanation, he sits back on the towel with satisfaction written all over his face as if he’s the one that invented yoga pants. Lily shrugs and says, “I’m down.”

 

“We’re gonna have an awesome summer. So many plans.” I sit up to look at them both. “Just don’t plan anything next month. I’ll get the dates soon, but for now don’t plan anything,” I tell them. They both look confused. “Why?” Benny asks. “B’cuz Dean wants me to go to Portland with him then.” Their eyes narrow on me. Here it goes. “Why? So he can rape then murder you in peace where no one knows you exist.” Benito Volteros. You can always count on him to be the negative one. “No, you idiot. It’s a family vacation and he wanted me to come along,” I explain.

 

“But you guys aren’t family,” Lily says. I huff out a breath. “I know darling, he just wants me to come with him.” She nods her head, accepting that answer. “Well I’m not gonna hold out my summer just so you can be with him,” Benny mumbles. I giggle and say, “You better, cuz that’s exactly what Lily and I did last year for you when you went to Brazil.” Lily mhhm’s her agreement. “We’ll see,” is what he says.  


“Whatever, so where’s this party gonna be?” I ask. “Somebody’s house on the North side,” Benny answers. Ooh, fancy. “You know the way, right?” Benny rolls his head over my way as if I just asked the most idiotic question. “Of course, Mom.” I give him the finger then lay back down.

 

 

The next night, I find myself getting ready for the party at Benny’s place. At first, Benny’s mom didn’t like Lily and me coming over because of obvious reasons, but after she saw all of us playing Left 4 Dead, she thought otherwise. (They both literally left me for dead...in the game. What friends I have.) She even brings us food now, which is great. I pack more of the glorious homemade guacamole on my taco before stuffing it into my mouth.

 

Lily runs over to get the last of the guacamole before I do. “You ate almost all of it!” She whines. I wave my hand dismissively in her face. “Quit your whinin’.” Benny slides on his black shirt and peach colored shorts before turning to face us. “You guys go crazy over that shit,” he says. “You don’t because she cooks for you everyday. Everybody ready now?” I ask while standing to my feet. They nod their head and we head out.

 

“Leaving already?” Benny’s mother, Lourdes, asks from the living room. My friend goes over to her to give his mom a kiss on the cheek. “Yeah, I told you. Party. Be back around late,” he tells her before leading us out the front door.

 

“So we’ve got about a thirty minute ride, sit tight, Lily,” Benny says before starting up his 1984 Grand Prix. Lily gets car sick after about ten minutes in a vehicle. It’s annoying. “I’ll try,” she mumbles while clutching her stomach in the back seat.

 

The closer we get to the house, the bigger the houses get. And then I remember where we are, Forest Glen. Also known as Jacob’s neighborhood. Ugh. “What’s wrong with you, chump?” Benny asks. “It’s Jacob’s town. Is he gonna be at this party?” I ask. “I doubt it. He’s a prep, dude. And I don’t think this is a preppy party,” he explains. “Bryn’s not preppy, but he dated her,” Lily chimes in from the back. She has perfect timing. I turn around and poke her stomach. She keels over immediately. “Stop, Tambryn. You’re gonna make me puke,” she whines.

 

Benny slaps my thigh and says, “I swear if she pukes, I’m blaming you, Bryn.” I sit back and ignore them both. Soon, we stop in front of a giant colonial home with a large green lawn. I can hear the music from out here. Geez, kids are passed out on the grass already. “When did this party start?” I ask as we get out of the car. “When we showed up,” Benny answers. I throw the look at him and he says, “About three hours ago, but who cares.”

 

The party is mainly in the backyard with the pool, but there’s also a ton of people in the basement. “Doesn’t this place remind you of, Project X?” Lily yells over the music. Kegs are everywhere, kids drinking and smoking are everywhere, and the pool is filled to the brim with kids. Yeah, this looks just like Project X. I turn to my left to see that Benny’s bitch ass has already ditched us. “Wanna see what’s downstairs?” I yell to Lily. She nods her head.

 

The trip down the steps is not easy. I tripped over some dude who was passed out, making me reach out for Lily, making her fall. Thank God everyone around us is drunk, so no one really notices. We make it to the basement finally and it’s chiller down here. The music is still kinda loud, but what do you expect? It’s a party. But it’s tolerable. There’s like an 85 inch TV plastered to the wall and on screen is some kind of video game, dudes surrounding it, yelling about some score. And in the far corner is a pool table.

 

No one, and I mean no one at this party looks familiar. Lily and I just sit back and watch the video game being played. “How long are we gonna be here?” Lily asks me. I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. Benny has the car.” She slumps back in her seat.

 

“Hey, Bryn,” a voice says over the killing on the screen. I look to my left to see Jacob and some brown haired, wide-eyed girl staring down at me. Fuck. I knew he’d be here. “Hi, Jacob,” I mutter. “This is Jodie, my new girlfriend,” he introduces. I look over at the girl on his arm, and she turns her nose up at me. “Great for you,” I say.

 

“You must be the old girlfriend,” the girl says as she pops her gum. “One of the old girlfriends. There were many,” Lily butts in. Jacob frowns at her but doesn’t say anything. “Humph, that’s weird because I’m the only one. You must’ve not been that good,” Jodie says as she pops her gum again. No this bitch didn’t. I stand up so we’re all at the same level. “Actually, I was a **great** girlfriend. He was the bad one,” I tell her. She does this ugly ass giggle that I think is supposed to be cute but isn’t.

 

“He’s a good boyfriend to me.” Like I give a fuck! “That’s probably because you give him everything he wants. Do you suck his dick every two seconds? ‘Cuz that’s the only way to keep his ass interested.” “Tambryn, I’ve told you that I’ve changed since the last time we dated. I’m not like that anymore, I swear,” Jacob says. Oh, now he wants to talk.

“Look I don’t care about your current situation with Judy, but you better control her before I do something about it,” I threaten. She steps up to me as if she’s really gonna make a move. I feel Lily on the side of me, ready to take her down as much as I am. “What you better do is learn my name, sweetheart. It’s Jodie, not Judy,” Judy says. I give her the most confused look that I can muster. “Bitch, why do you think I care?”

 

Judy looks as if she’s about to say something, but Jacob stops her. “Jodie babe, can you give us some time for a second?” He asks her. Judy looks at me before walking away to go ruin someone else’s life. “What is there still to talk about?” I ask him. He gives me this wicked smile. “So how’s Dean?” Is the first fucking thing he asks. I was right, he hasn’t changed a bit. “He knows about Dean?” Lily whispers.

 

I ignore her, because well, that’s not important right now. The stupid fucking smile on his face is getting under my skin. It happened so fast, that I hardly even noticed that it even happened. I deck him right in his stupid mouth. Jacob’s head falls back and that’s when I finally notice what I did. It seems as if the whole party stops to look over at us. “What the fuck is your problem, you dumb bitch?!” Jacob screams. He wipes away the blood that’s dripping from his mouth. All I do is flick his lip and he’s whining again. Judy tries to run up on me, but Lily grabs her before I hand her her own ass.

 

That’s when Benny brings his bitch ass down the steps. “What the hell happened?” He asks as he looks at Jacob’s slightly bleeding mouth and then at me. I’m pissed, it’s hot, so I push Jacob’s ass out of the way and walk up the steps to the backyard. My friends know me enough to not bother me when I’m seething like this. No one in the backyard has heard what’s happened, so nobody bothers me as I kick back a few drinks.

 

Now I don’t want you guys out there thinking that I’m some raging mad, rebel alcoholic child. I’m not. I’m just mad and these drinks taste like juice and chocolate, so I’m gonna throw ‘em back. “You can drink, can’t ya?” A dude with shaggy black hair asks. I can barely see his eyes. I don’t know if it’s because his hair is too long, or I’m so drunk. Either way, I can’t see his ass, but I nod my head anyway. I knock a tequila and Arizona back before walking to the front yard.

 

That was the longest fucking walk I’ve ever experienced in my fucking life. I lay down on the grass to look up at the sky. (Softest grass I’ve ever encountered.) When some stars align, they kinda look like Dean. Oh, I miss Dean. Should I call him? No wait, let’s surprise him! I tell Suri to dial a cab and she obeys. I’ve never been so thankful for Apple products in my life.

 

“Hey, lady, you order the cab?” A portly man with a golf cap asks. He’s blocking Star-Dean. “Yes, yes, I did,” I mumble. The dude helps me up and into the yellow taxi. “So where we goin’?” Larry, he told me his lovely name. I can’t for the life of me remember Dean’s address. “You know that building on Michigan that-that that looks over the big lion that spits water?” I ask. He thinks for a bit.

 

“Are you talking about Buckingham Fountain?” Larry asks. I snap my fingers. “That’s the one, Larrbear!” He starts the car and mumbles, “Don’t call me that.” “Will do.” I sing every Cher song that Dovett has taught me the whole way home…I mean to Dean’s house.

 

 _“Do you believe in life after love? I can feel something inside me say, I really don’t think you’re strong enough, no!”_ Damn, I love that song. “Lady, lady! We’re here,” Larry interrupts my singing, right when I was getting to the best part I might add. I look out the window and yep, we’re right outside Dean’s building. Geez, I hope he’s here. “Thanks, Larrbear,” I mutter before grabbing the car handle. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Ya gotta pay me; this shit ain’t free,” he says while banging on the plexi-glass that separates us. Oh yeah, forgot about that. “How much?” I ask.

 

“That was a long ride. Fifty-seven bucks.” Jeez Louise, I didn’t bring any kind of money. But, I have a perfect plan. I take off one of my shoes and throw it through the hole and into the front seat. “What is this?” Larry asks. “My shoe, silly. My Deanie can pay you, but he’s upstairs. I’ll be right down, promise,” I tell him. Larry lets out a long breath before saying, “Alright, I trust ya. Hurry back, though.” I skip out the car and into the building.

 

I knock on the door that I think is Dean’s and wait. An old gray haired lady answers the door in her silk white robe. “Dean?” I ask, looking into her place. Hmm, it looks nothing like I remember. “Two doors down, love,” she says. I give her a wide smile before going two doors down. I knock on the door until it opens. A sleepy, disheveled Dean opens the door.

 

“Tambryn?” He says while wiping his eyes. I jump into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist. “Deanie!” I say as I lay kisses on his soft stubbly cheeks. He wraps an arm around my back to steady me. “What ya doin’ here, Prancer? It’s two in the morning,” He says. His words are muffled by my hair. I lean back to look him in the face. “You reek of tequila,” he mumbles as an after thought. I giggle. “I was at a party on the North side and I punched a dude in the face. And I got drunk so I got a cab over here,” I explain while dipping my fingers in his dimples.

 

“You took a cab over here, all the way from the North side?” He asks. I nod my head vigorously until Dean places his hand on my cheek. “Is he still downstairs?” He asks. “Yep, fifty-seven bucks,” I tell him with a kiss. Dean tries to let me down, but I only hang on tighter. “Baby, I gotta go get my wallet.” “Don’t let me down. And call me baby more often,” I say. He nods his head with a smile as he takes us to his blazer that’s splayed over the leather couch and pulls out a black leather wallet.

 

The lady in the elevator keeps looking at us funny. “Deanie,” I whisper in his ear. “Yes, baby.” “Why is that lady staring at us like that?” “Because I’m holding you like you’re five. And, Tambryn…she can hear you.” I lay my head on his strong shoulder to look at the lady. She gives me a smile and I wave at her. The elevator dings and we get off. “You know I missed you?” I ask him. Dean grunts and says, “I missed you, too.”

“So you said fifty-seven dollars?” Dean asks as he walks us up to the cab. “Yeah, fifty-seven, and here’s her shoe,” Larrbear says. Dean leans down to give him the money and to get my shoe. They do the exchange and we walk away. “Bye, Larrbear!” I yell. Larry rolls his eyes, but gives me a short wave before driving off.

 

When we get back into the condo, Dean tries to set me down on the island. “Tambryn baby, ya gotta let go. You gotta drink something.” I huff and puff, but let him go anyway. He gives me a smile before walking over to the refrigerator to get the water. I lay down on the island and watch Dean work. More like watching his ass. “You know you have the best looking ass, right?” I tell him. Dean grumbles a laugh as he pops open a bottle of Tylenol.

 

“Yours isn’t too bad, either,” I hear him mutter. I giggle. Dean likes my ass. “You gotta take this, sit up for me, will ya?” Dean asks as he tries to lift me by my arms. I sit up slowly and take the Tylenol and water. I didn’t notice how thirsty I was until now. I down the whole glass in one go. I hop off the island and barely land on my feet, thank God Dean’s there to help me. I push him away and crash on the couch. Dean picks me up and sits me on his lap. “You look sleepy,” he notices. I nod my head and sway on his hips.

 

“You’re so cute, Deanie,” I mutter before going in for a sloppy kiss. He licks into my mouth and I go wild. We’re kissing so hard, I don’t know you can call what we’re doing as kissing, it’s just that sloppy. I pull away to catch my breath and to look at Dean do the same. “You said that you punched someone at the party, what happened?” He asks. Dammit, Dean! He picks the worst time to bring stuff up. “It was my ex, Jacob. Him and his new girlfriend were being dumb, so I got mad and punched him,” I explain. Dean’s eyebrows rise. “What they say to make ya so mad?” I huff and sit back. In the process, it makes me sit on his elephant trunk of a dick. He doesn’t feel hard, he’s just wearing thin pajama pants.

 

I shrug my shoulders and say, “He was bein’ his usual dick face self and he mentioned you, so I punched him.” Dean’s eyes bulge. “He _knows_ about me, Tambryn?” He sounds alarmed. I shake my head. “He just knows your name. He doesn’t know that ‘Dean’ is you.” He visibly relaxes. “Oh, okay. But to let you know, violence doesn’t solve anything.” I duck my head into his neck and say, “I know, I know, Deanie.”

 

My hand snakes down to his nether regions and he tenses. “Tambryn…” he says. “Hmm?” I peek up at him and his pupils are a bit bigger. His ding-a-ling fills in my hand and I giggle. “What are you doing?” “What does it look like I’m doing?” “Touching something you shouldn’t be touching,” he mumbles. I sit up and look down between us. “But I think it likes me,” I whine. “It does, but it shouldn’t.” I pout and move my hand away from his thingy. “Whyyyy?” Dean sighs and sits up, moving both of us forward.

 

“Because you’re seventeen.” I huff and shove his shoulder. “Then what was the reason for getting into a relationship with me?” Dean lets out another sigh before covering his face with his hands. “I don’t mean it like that, Tambryn. I want to, don’t get me wrong, I want to so bad. It’s just that you’re drunk, and I’m really not fond of taking your virginity when you’re like this,” he explains. I drape my arms around his shoulders so we’re inches apart.

 

“I’m not that drunk, Deanie. And plus, my virginity is not that special to me. It’s not that big of a deal,” I shrug. “It should be a big deal, Tambryn. And you are drunk. So please, if you want, we can talk about this in the morning when you’re sober. Deal?” What? “So no action is happening tonight?” Dean purses his lips and says, “Nope.” I let out a breath of frustration and stand. “Well I guess I’ll just go to bed since no one wants to fuck me.”

 

Dean makes the right decision and follows me without saying anything. When I make it to his bedroom, I strip out of my one shoe, jeans, and for some reason damp tank. “You want me to get some clothes for you?” Dean asks as he tries not to look at my bra’d boobs. I flop onto the fluffy cool bed and nearly sink into it. “Nah, I’m good like this. Just turn off the lights and get in bed,” I tell him. The lights go out and soon I feel the bed dip from Dean getting in.

 

I’ve never been so happy for the high ass A/C in this place like I am right now. Sleep comes so damn easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to review! :D


	13. The Morning After

Surprisingly when I wake up, Dean’s still asleep. But why is that my first thought? How the hell did I get here? Why am I just in my underwear? And why the hell is my head pounding like this?! My arms are wrapped around his midsection and my head lying on his chest. I push myself up so I’m sitting on him and poke the tip of his nose till he wakes up.

 

Dean wipes his eyes and then his nose so adorably. “How are you awake before me?” Dean mumbles. “Dean, my head hurts,” I whine as I rub my temples. He lets out a sigh. “I was hoping that Tylenol would help. Come on, lets get you something to eat so you can take some more medicine,” he taps my thigh and I slide off him.

 

I follow him to the kitchen and sit on the island cross-legged. “I have some questions for you, Dean Maverick.” Dean grunts out a laugh. “I’m sure you do.” “Why does my head hurt so badly?” I ask. He walks my way with a glass of ice cold water in one hand and a banana in the other. “It’ll help with the headache. Well you told me that you were at a party,” I remember the party, but everything after that is a blur. But for some reason, Cher comes to mind.

 

“And then you punched Jacob in the face, after that you got drunk. You came to me after midnight,” he explains. I peel the banana and start breaking it into pieces, stuffing it in my mouth instantly. I remember the Jacob part. “So why am I in my underwear?” I ask him. Dean turns to me with a nervous smile on his face. “What do you want for breakfast?” Avoiding questions? What the hell did we do?! “I want a cheeseburger,” I tell him. He shakes his head. “No greasy foods for the hung over girl, how about an omelet with toast?” I nod my head vigorously. Dean turns to get the eggs and other ingredients from the fridge.

 

I finish the banana before talking. “So can you tell me why I’m in my underwear now? Because right now I’m starting to think we fucked and I don’t even remember it, which is kind of sad.” Dean turns around to look at me and shake his head. “No we didn’t…have sex. You were just hot and took off your clothes. But you did molest me,” he explains. My jaw drops. “What do you mean I molested you?!”

 

Dean turns around and grabs his dick through his pants. “You kept grabbing me like that and you wanted to do it, but I wouldn’t let you,” he says before turning back to the eggs. The whole time his hand was on his dick, my eyes are on it, too. “I must’ve made the biggest fool of myself,” I say under my breath.

 

“No you didn’t. You were actually pretty entertaining. But you better check your phone, it was buzzing all night,” Dean says as he pours the whisked eggs into the frying pan. My eyes widen, I wouldn’t be surprised. I jet over to the couch to see my phone. I unlock and yep, thirty missed calls between Lily and Benny, followed by twenty-three texts from my friends, too. I dial Lily’s number and it rings twice before she answers.

 

“WHERE. THE. FUCK ARE YOU?!” Is what she greets me with. Yep, I had that coming. “I’m at Dean’s,” I tell her. She takes a loud exhale of breath and I hear another person in the background. “She’s with Dean,” Lily says. Benny. There’s some moving in the background and then the douche bag is on the phone. “Of-fucking-course you’re with Dean. You didn’t think that you should probably call us to let us know you were okay? As much as I don’t like you, Tambryn, I would still like to know where the hell you ran off to,” Benny rambles. I just roll my eyes and wait for him to finish. “You done?” I ask.

 

There’s silence on the other end for awhile. “Yes, I’m done you payaso.” I roll my eyes and look over at Dean who’s cutting up vegetables and avocado to throw into the omelet. He looks up at me and smiles. I smile back then get back to the conversation. “Look, I’m safe and sound so no need to worry anymore. But thanks for the concern. I know deep down in that douchey heart of yours that you love me. And I love you, too,” I tell him.

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we’re done with the sentimental shit. So you good?” Benny asks. I nod my head even though he can’t see. “Yeah, I am. Dean’s taking care of me. Did you call my mom, God I hope you didn’t call her.” I suddenly start to panic. I really don’t feel like making up yet another lie. “Nah, we didn’t call her. ‘Cuz if we did, then she’d kick our ass too, and I’m not for your mom kicking my ass for a second time.” I chuckle, yeah I remember that.

 

A few years ago when we were twelve, my mom caught us with a pack of cigarettes. Not even lit or out of the pack yet, and we were left with hurt asses and watery eyes. I hear a plate clack against the granite countertop and I turn. He points to a steamy plate of a giant omelet and toast with a glass of juice by it. That damn plate is callin’ my name.

 

“I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you guys later, okay?” I tell him. Benny huffs out a breath but says, “All right. Well, at least you’re safe. See ya later, alligator.” “Toodle loo,” I say before hanging up.

 

“They were worried, weren’t they?” Dean asks as he makes himself some oatmeal. I sit down and immediately dig into the delicious omelet. “Yeah, but they calmed down after they knew I was safe and with you,” I tell him. Dean’s mouth quirks up into a smile. “That’s good to hear.”

 

“So what’s up with the vacation next month?” I ask when he finally sits down next to me with his breakfast. “My daughter, Valerie says that she has a big surprise for all of us. And we leave on July first early in the morning. And just so you know, everyone knows you’re coming,” he tells me. I wince at the last part. I’m guessing that he sees it, because he leans in and gives my cheek a quick peck. “Don’t worry. They’re actually not that bothered by it to my surprise. I guess they’re happy that I’m finally bringing an ‘assistant’ that’s closer to their age.”

 

I huff out a laugh. “Why, you usually bring old hags?” I ask. He nods his head with a slight blush. “So what airline are we using? I hope it’s not Delta. Last time I used Delta, my luggage got lost and was never found. I cried for two weeks straight,” I tell him. Dean covers up his chuckle. “You won’t have that problem because we’re flying in a private jet.” Oh, I forgot that he’s rich enough to have private jets. “So how are private jets?” I ask him. It may be a stupid question, but I’m a peasant compared to him.

 

Dean scrunches up his nose in confusion. “How do you mean?” I shrug my shoulders and usher the last of the omelet onto the buttered whole grain toast before popping it into my mouth. “I mean how is it to fly in one?” He evens out his face, understanding me now. “It’s quiet, more of a smooth ride. And actually faster. I think you’ll like it…I hope you will, with your fear of heights and everything.” I did kinda have a mini panic attack on that rough ass Delta flight.

 

“I’ll be fine…I hope. But hey, I’ve been thinking, do you really have an assistant?” I ask him. Dean shakes his head. “No, I haven’t for awhile actually.” I turn to him, pushing the empty plate away from me. “Since it’s the summer and everything, how about I become your real assistant,” I say. Dean’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “You wanna be my real assistant?” He asks. I shrug my shoulders. “Yeah, why not? I mean we’re already doing so much lying, how about we have at least one truth? I can come to your office and everything.” A flash of that office porno Dovett showed me between the boss and employee just flashed through my mind. Oh gawd. Dean purses his lips, thinking.

 

“Yeah, I guess that can work out. But it’s a big job, being my assistant,” he warns. I laugh right in his face, is he serious? “Psh, whatever. Even if I’m horrible, and I won’t be, you wouldn’t fire me. And we both know that.” Dean tries to stop the smile that’s forming on his face and he fails. “Okay, you may be right. But it’s still a big responsibility,” he agrees. I lean in and give him a kiss on the lips. I can taste his cinnamon oatmeal and I’m sure he can taste the avocado omelet. “I promise to be the best assistant you’ve ever had,” I say against his lips. He chuckles and says, “I’m sure you will.” I back up and take our dishes to the dishwasher and load them in. “So when do you go back to the office? Or do you have an office?” I ask.

 

Dean gives me an odd look from his seat. “Of course I have an office. I’m the CEO,” he flaunts. Okay, whatever, I guess I should’ve known. “But to answer your question, I really don’t know. It will be soon, though. But when I do, I’ll make sure to call you the day before or something. You know where the office is?” I know where Mavs Incorporated is located; it’s just a train ride away. “Yeah, sounds good. But I should get back home,” I tell him. His shoulders slump with the sound of that.

 

“Alright, I guess you’re right,” he says while standing up. “No, no. I’ll take the subway back. You spoil me too much,” I tell him as I make my way to his bedroom and then closet. “You sure?” Dean asks. I grab a pair of shorts and a purple v-neck tee with the Chicago skyline on it. “I’m sure, Dean. It’s daytime so no predators. But uhh, if you could let me borrow about three bucks for fare, that’d be great,” I say as I put on my one shoe. He hands me the other one with a smile. “Of course,” he says before getting out his wallet. Jesus, do rich people carry around their wallets at all times? He gives me a crisp ten dollar bill and closes my hand around it. I look up at him and he shakes his head. Even when I try to be independent, he finds ways to still do above and beyond for me.

 

I stand on my tip toes and he leans down to meet me halfway for the kiss. “How tall are you, dude?” I ask him when we part. He grumbles a laugh and says, “Six-four, how tall are you?” Taller than me. “Five-six,” I answer. “Adorable,” Dean says. I roll my eyes with a smile before making my way to the front door.

 

“Be safe, Prancer,” he calls to me down the hallway. I blow a dramatic kiss to him before the elevator doors close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short, but I'm planning on having the Portland trip in the next chapter. Hoped you enjoyed!


	14. Family Disputes and...Other Things

Getting my mother to agree to let me leave for a week was surprisingly easy, after I promised to spend as much time with her as possible. (I told her that Lily and her family welcomed me on their trip to Maine.)We had to wake up early as shit, though on the day of Portland. Dean has a car waiting for me outside by five thirty in the morning so my mom won’t see outside. It’s hard, but I managed. 

When I step outside, a dark blue is in the sky. The silver Range Rover is parked out front of my house. Dean meets me halfway and grabs most of my bags. “Geez, didja bring your whole closet?” He asks as he leans in to give me a quick kiss before rushing to the back of the SUV and stuffing my bags in. I meet him in the back and stuff the two bags he left me with in the back, too. “I’m a girl, Dean. Of course I packed this much,” I say right before a yawn. He chuckles and ushers me to get in, closing the door after me. 

“Yes, I should’ve known. You can sleep for awhile, the charter is in Bloomingdale. And we can eat on the plane,” Dean says as he starts the car. I nod my head and drift off to sleep. 

“Prancer, Prancer, we’re here, ya gotta wake up,” a voice says and a hand is on my thigh, shaking it. I slap the hand and slowly come to consciousness. My eyes flutter open and what meets me is a giant jet and blue skies. Attendants are already loading my luggage onto the plane. “Oh, sorry,” I say as I step out of the car. “Excited?” Dean asks beside me. We get closer and closer and my heart beats faster and faster. Oh sweet Jesus, shit is getting real. 

“More like terrified,” I mutter. He drapes his arm around my shoulders and kisses the top of my head. “Relax, the ride is so smooth, you won’t even know you’re in the sky. And again, food,” he whispers in my ear. I perk up at that. Thank gawd, I’m fucking starving. 

When we step onto the jet, there are only about five attendants on board. Dean leads the way on board to the plane. It’s absolutely flawless. Have you guys ever seen Iron Man? You remember when Tony Stark and Rhody were on the jet plane with the flight attendants/strippers? Yeah, that’s exactly how it looks in here…minus the stripper pole. 

The white leather seats are calling my name. I pick a seat and sink into it. Man, it’s like this guy doesn’t sit on anything unless it’s cushioned. Dean takes the seat across from me and smiles. “Hello, Mr. Maverick. Hello, Ms. Caverly. Is there anything you all would like before we lift off?” A beautiful long haired Asian woman asks. I have to contain myself before I reach out and touch her glossy hair. Dean looks over at me, which makes the flight attendant look at me. “I can have food?” I ask. She nods her head with a slight chuckle. 

“Since it’s still morning, we have French toast, omelets, parfaits, fruit cups, croissants, English muffins, and Danishes. And for beverages we have milk, water, and fruit juice.” My God, where do they store all that food? “Is there an option to get more than one item?” I ask her. I see Dean nod his head in my peripheral vision. “Yes, you can,” the woman answers. “Then can I get the French toast, a croissant, a Danish, and a fruit cup just to be healthy. And can I have milk, too?” I list. She nods her head and turns to Dean. He just orders a fruit cup and calls it a day. 

“I always make myself look like a fat ass in front of you,” I mumble when the woman leaves. Dean chuckles. “There’s nothing wrong with eating, it’s apart of life,” he says. I look out the window and finally notice that we’re moving. Funny, hardly even felt it. “How long is it gonna take us to get there?” “About an hour and a half.” Wow, that’s shorter than I was expecting.

“So is the first day just gonna be laid back?” I ask. Dean shrugs his shoulders. “It depends. But my daughters are always the first to sweep me off to some local store. So I know you all will get along in that department,” he explains. I nod my head and ask, “What about your sons?” Dean chuckles so adorably. “They’ll defitnitely get me at night. Wanting to play football or something on the beach. But I’m not really sure about how Brendan’s feeling about me; he’s probably still upset about his suspension from the company.” Oh, forgot about that. “Well hopefully he’s not.” He gives me a slight smile and looks down at his lap. 

The woman comes around a little while later with my platter of food and Dean’s fruit cup. She sets down the beautiful array of French toast and such on the small table in front of me with a grin. “Thank you,” I mumble before digging in. My eyes widen with glory at the amount of powdered sugar that’s poured on top, which is magical. This woman is okay with me. 

“Enjoying yourself?” Dean asks, he’s already done with his fruit cup. I stuff the last of the French toast in my mouth and give him a bright smile. 

 

“We are now landing in Portland, Maine. I hope you’ve had a great ride,” the pilot says through the intercom. I look out the window to see blue skies and a car already waiting for us on the port. “That car’s for us?” I ask, pointing at the black SUV. Dean looks out the window and looks at where I’m pointing. “Yep, it’ll take us right to the house,” he says while standing up. I follow his lead and the doors to the jet open shortly after. 

People are already loading our things into the SUV by the time we step onto the ground. I’m tempted to kiss the pavement, but that might be too much. “I hope it was a smooth ride for you, Mr. Maverick,” a cute flight attendant with perky boobs and red hair purrs. She purred, guys. You shoulda heard her. Dean backs away from her a bit and stands next to me. “Yes, it was alright, Vera. Thanks for asking,” he says. 

Vera looks over at me and then back at him before walking away, embarrassed. “She was feelin’ you,” I mutter when we get in the back of the SUV. His answer is just a grunt. The driver gets in shortly after and we head on the road. I can’t believe Portland is so pretty. When I thought of Maine, I just thought of water, lobster, and boringness. But now that I’m seeing things with my own eyes, it’s water, lobster, and for lack of a better word, liveliness. And I never use that word, but it is. 

“The house is by the beach?” I ask. We haven’t made any turns and all we’ve passed are boats and lakes. The houses around here are ginormous. “The house is on the beach. Right over there, actually,” Dean points to a big blue Victorian house that is on the beach at the end of the road. “I’ve always loved that style of house,” I whisper, still staring at the house as we get closer and closer to it. 

“It’s nice isn’t it? Well, you can see it right now, come on,” Dean says as we pull up into the brick cul-de-sac type driveway. “Hmm, seems like we’re the first ones,” he mutters. I jump out of the car and hurriedly grab my bags. Dean grabs the rest of my stuff, including his luggage. 

“Hurry, Dean, hurry!” I exclaim. Dean shakes his head with a soft chuckle on his lips as he digs in his pocket for the keys. “Excited, aren’t we,” he mumbles. “Yes, now hurry!” 

When the French glass doors are open, my jaw drops. It’s absolutely amazing. I don’t even know how to explain to you guys, it’s just that grand. “Come on, let’s get you your room, and then you can gawk all you want,” Dean says as he climbs up the steps. I follow him up the marble stairs, eyes widening when I see my own reflection. 

“Want your room next to mine?” Dean asks when we get to the wide second floor. I nod my head as I look at all the rooms. “Then we’re at the end,” he says as he leads me to the last door on the left. “This…is my room?” I ask, looking around the big space. It’s about twice the size of my bedroom with a big bay window. 

“You like it?” Dean asks, hope in his voice. I drop my things and sit on the bench by the window, it over looks the water and the beach. “I love it,” I whisper. “I’m glad.” 

“Hellooo, anyone here?!” A shrilly yell comes from downstairs. Dean’s face brightens up as he walks out the door and follows the voice. Must be one of his twins. I walk down the steps to see a woman with strawberry blonde hair and a red romper on surrounded by her luggage. She runs over to Dean and hops into his open arms. “Daddy!” She exclaims; her voice is kinda muffled by his arm. 

Dean nudges her face up a bit to kiss the top of her head and says, “Valencia, I’ve missed you.” It makes my heart swell with two emotions. Admiration to see the love in his eyes and it’s all because he sees his daughter. And hurt, because I know I’ll never have that with my father. 

Before my eyes can start spewing tears, I make to walk back up the steps silently. But, Valencia’s eyes land on mine and I have no choice but to stay where I am. Valencia breaks away from her father and walks over to the bottom of the steps. “You’re Tambryn, aren’t you? I’m Valencia, come on down,” she says in a cheery voice that reminds me of Lily. 

I smile and walk down to her. As soon as I’m at the bottom steps, she ushers me into a big bear hug. I wrap my arms awkwardly around her and look over at Dean. “She’s a hugger,” he explains. Valencia lets me go with a short chuckle. “It’s true. And I’m kinda happy to see that you’re not some grumpy old assistant this time around. We can finally have fun with one of your assistants, Daddy,” Valencia says, looking over at Dean. 

Dean rolls his eyes with a smile. “Of course. Where’s your sister, you two didn’t come together?” He asks. She shakes her head which makes her vibrant curls wisp around her face. “She’s been busy with her surprise.” Dean quirks an eyebrow at his daughter. “You know what it is?” Valencia snorts. “Of course I know what the surprise is, I’m her sister. Have you seen Liza’s new boyfriend?” She calls her mom by her name? The only person I’ve heard do that was Khloe Kardashian. Dean shakes his head. “No, is there something I should know about him?”   
Valencia shrugs her shoulders and says, “No, not really. I just wanted someone to gush about how hot he is.” I laugh…Dean rolls his eyes (minus the smile this time). “Great to know, Val,” he says before walking into the big grand kitchen. She turns her bright smile over to me. “I love messing with him. Give me some time to unpack and then we can talk, okay?” She asks. I nod my head and get out of her way, walking down the hall to the kitchen. 

Dean’s pouring himself a glass of white wine when I get in there. “What do you think of her?” Dean asks, not even looking up from his glass. I take a seat on the granite countertop before answering. “I like her. She’s funny. But why does she call her mom by her name and you ‘daddy’?” Dean smirks. 

“You noticed that didn’t you? I knew you would. You’re gonna learn real fast by which kid likes which parent just by that one small detail. Liza’s always favored one of the twins and Valerie was always her favorite. So Valencia always liked me more. If Brendan’s still mad at me, he may call me by my name,” he explains. I can’t wait til everyone arrives. 

And as if on cue, the door opens to reveal two boys, Brendan and Marlon. Brendan looks exactly like Dean but only younger, and Marlon favors Liza with the blond hair. He’s also got that baseball built. Dean cocks his head to follow him to the foyer. 

Marlon looks at me and then at Dean, and then looks at me again, but holding my gaze. He’s even cuter in person. “This is your assistant? She’s not old,” he says as he gives Dean a quick hug before walking up to me, offering his hand. “Defitnitely not old,” Brendan says from the door. I smile and shake Marlon’s hand. “Thanks, I guess. I’m Tambryn,” I introduce. 

He gives me a firm handshake, followed by a smile. “Marlon, how old are you?” “Marlon,” Dean warns. “Seventeen,” I answer. He nods his head with a smile. “Really? I’m sixteen.” 

“Do I hear my baby brother trying to hit on Daddy’s assistant?!” Valencia yells as she rambles down the steps. Marlon’s face heats up as he rolls his eyes over to his sister. “You know normal siblings start off with a hug and a ‘Hey! Haven’t seen you in so long!’. But no, I guess that’s just too much to ask,” Marlon mumbles as he hugs Valencia. She’s so small. I thought Dean was just swallowing her up in that hug just because he’s a giant, but no, this girl is just tiny. 

Speaking of Dean, I look over to him and Brendan shake hands awkwardly. Dean has on a bright smile, glad to see his son, and Brendan just looks uninterested. “How ya been, son?” He asks. “I’ve seen better days, Dean. But I think you already know about that,” his son retorts. Dean looks over at me with a small smile. I shake my head, he must be used to the cold shoulder. 

“All right, all right, you two are getting too lovey dovey for me,” Valencia says as she gets between the two men and wraps her arms around her big brother’s waist. Brendan mouths, we’ll talk later, to Dean before giving his attention to his sister. Dean nods his head and walks over to Marlon and me. 

“Still mad at ya?” I ask. His laugh is my answer. “I’m gonna go get unpacked. Oh and please don’t alert me when Liza gets here, because I really don’t care,” Marlon says as he picks up his luggage and walks up the stairs. Brendan follows suit a moment later. 

“So Daddy, when Valerie gets here we gotta go to Black Parrot. You too, Tambryn, you’ll love it,” Valencia says. I look between the two, confused. “What’s Black Parrot?” I ask. “It’s the cutest little boutique you’ll ever be in contact with,” she answers. I nod my head, sounds pretty cool. The door unlocks and in comes Liza, a tall brown haired man, and Valerie walks in…with what looks like a baby. 

“You got a baby?!” Dean yells. Valerie nods her head and her baby blue hair moves around her shoulders. She must be the wild one. “I got a baby!” Valerie exclaims while moving the red blanket back to show the baby’s cute little face. A cute little tan baby. 

“Hello, Grandpa Maverick!” Liza says as she gives Dean a hug. Dean’s eyes break contact with the baby to look down at Liza who’s wrapped around him. This has to be an act, because last time I saw her, she was everything but friendly to him. He steps back from her hold to walk over to Valerie to get a better look at the baby. 

“When did you get…?” Dean trails off, looking at the baby. “I got her two months ago. She’s four months old. Baby Roslyn. Ain’t she the cutest thing ever?!” He cracks a smile at that and says, “She’s chubby.” “Valerie’s been feeding her like every hour,” the brown haired man says. Dean’s smile falls as he takes a look at the dude. “This is Isaac Binasco, my fiancé,” Liza introduces while cozying up to the man named Isaac. I knew he looked Italian. 

“Nice to finally meet the man that fathered all of these wonderful children,” Isaac says as he lays his hand out for Dean to shake. I try to hold back my laugh because Dean looks like he would absolutely love to be anywhere else but standing right in front of this dude. But, he acts like the gentleman that he is and shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you, too,” Dean mumbles. 

Isaac gives Dean one more smile before turning to me. “And who might this be?” He asks. I smile and wave at all of the eyes on me. “I’m Tambryn, Dean’s assistant.” Everyone smiles back at me politely. “The one I met not too long ago,” Liza muses. I nod my head awkwardly at that. 

“You two met before?” Valencia asks. We both nod our heads. “Nice girl,” Liza mutters before walking up the stairs, Isaac right behind her. 

“So how long have you been working for my dad?” Valerie asks as we scrape through the racks of Black Parrot, she left the baby at the house with an irritated Brendan. “For about two months,” I answer. She nods her head. “Not that long, eh? Well, I’m gonna tell you right now that it’s easy to get whatever you want from him. I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but oh well.” I chuckle and look across the store to see Dean holding stacks and stacks of women’s clothing and Valencia just packing more on him.   
“Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about,” I mumble. 

“Daddy, are you gonna have enough money to buy me and Bryn something?!” Valerie yells across to them. Valencia gives her sister the middle finger and Dean gives a smile. “Of course I’ll have enough for you two,” he answers. I smile back at him and then go back to shopping for everything and anything that I cannot afford. 

“So how’s the family?” Lily asks. After about an hour of shopping and another hour of going grocery shopping, we’re finally back at the house. As always, Dean bought everything all three of us wanted. I sit down at the bay window and look out at the afternoon sun. There are some people on the beach, but some ways down. 

“They’re fine. One of Dean’s daughters had a surprise…a baby,” I tell her. There’s silence on the other end before a boom of laughter comes through. “That’s fucking hilarious, dude! You’re dating a grandpa now! Ah, your life is like a good book I can’t stop reading. So what else is new, are the sons hot?” I roll my eyes, typical Lily.

“Yeah, I think you’d like them. The oldest one looks just like Dean and the other one is sixteen. His sister thinks he likes me.” Lily grunts over the phone. “Probably does. Doesn’t everybody?” I roll my eyes even though she can’t see. “So you and Benny do anything exciting?” A sigh comes through the line. “Nah, not today. It was just one of those lazy days, ya know? But, we were gonna probably hit up another party,” she replies. 

I groan and ask, “On the North side?” “Oh, no, no, no. This one’s gonna be in Humboldt Park. My kinda people. Street gangs, Cholas, bullet holes on brick buildings… yeah.” I snort. Lily wouldn’t survive a minute in Humboldt Park. “Just don’t forget your bullet proof vest, snowflake.” “Fuck you,” she laughs. 

A knock comes from my door before Valencia peeps her head through. “Daddy wanted me to tell you that the food’s ready. We’re out back on the patio,” she whispers when she notices me on the phone. I nod my head and say, “Thanks,” before she closes the door. “Lily, I gotta go, but I’ll talk to ya soon, alright?” “Okay. Have fun on your trip; tell Grandpa Dean I said ‘hi’.” I roll my eyes. She and Benny won’t let me live this down. 

When I get to the patio, everyone’s getting seated. I was gonna sit by Dean, but the twins waved me over to go sit by them. Dean gives me an understanding smile before taking the seat next to Marlon. 

“Mmm, Liza did mention how good of a cook you were, Dean; and I see what she means!” Isaac muses as he looks over the sea of food. Dean gives him a polite smile before reaching over and grabbing the bottle of wine on the table. “Hope everyone enjoys,” he says. Everyone begins to dive into everything on the table. There’s so much food, I don’t know where to start, but there’s some items I don’t recognize. “Those are lobster rolls. Daddy makes them from scratch,” Valerie points to said rolls and then goes off to point at something else. “That’s baked bluefish marinated in lemon, that stuff’s awesome. And that right there is baked stuffed clams. You know everything else, right?” She asks. I nod my head gratefully. “Yeah, thanks.” 

“No problem. You had the same look of curiosity I had when Daddy started making food I’ve never heard of,” she responds. Since there’s about nine people here, and only one of them I’m actually really comfortable around, I don’t go as crazy as I would have if it was only Dean and I. So, I grab one lobster roll, one piece of grilled tilapia, and a few stuffed clams. 

Dean takes a look at my plate and then at me before letting out a low chuckle. “Not hungry, I suppose?” He asks from across the table. I shrug my shoulders. “Not really.” Lie, such a fucking lie. 

“So Dean, Brendan told me that you suspended him from the company,” Liza says later into dinner. Oh shit. Dean lets out a long breath before glaring at Brendan and then Liza. “Did he also tell you the reason?” He asks. “Yeah, I did, Dean. But I also told her that it wasn’t needed for you to suspend me for two whole months. What do you expect me to do for a job for two months?” Brendan spats. 

The table is all of a sudden quiet as we all look over at father and son. Dean sets down his fork and gives his son all of his attention. He’s calm, but not the ‘calm before the storm’ type calm, just normal Dean calm. 

“Brendan, you are a twenty-eight-year-old man. For you to be asking me what you should be doing for a job is ridiculous. If you weren’t so disrespectful to our top clients then you wouldn’t even have to worry about the next two months. You said that we were going to talk later. When you said later, I thought you meant just you and me, but I guess you’re still the immature little boy you’ve always been. So if you want to talk about this more, we’ll talk about it in private. Otherwise, those two months suspension will turn into four. Then you will defitnitely have to find another job.” 

If it wasn’t quiet before, it’s defitnitely quiet now. Brendan looks like he wants to say something more, but too scared and just purses his lips. I don’t know why I find it so attractive when Dean shows people the business. Maybe because he’s so calm all the time. 

“Daddy you have to teach me how to cook, Roslyn can’t live off of formula forever,” Valerie says to break the awkward silence. Dean breaks the glare on his face and it turns into a smile. “Of course, honey. Just tell me when,” he says. The rest of the dinner goes on without incident, thank God.

I try to help with the dishes, but the twins insist on doing them. Everyone’s off doing their own thing, but mostly getting ready for bed. Dean’s somewhere on the beach talking to Brendan privately, so I go up to my room to try and get some sleep. 

But right when I’m headed to dream town, there’s a knock on the door. “Come in,” I say while getting into the sitting position. The door opens and it’s Dean with two plates of food…of course. I turn on the bedside lamp and leave room for him to sit down. He sets down the food first before settling onto the bed. “Hey,” I say. He smiles and says, “Hey. Thought you might be hungry since your plate at dinner looked like it was for one person.” I throw my head back with laughter. 

“I was just trying to be polite,” I tell him before grabbing one of those lobster rolls and shoving it into my mouth. “Oh, don’t worry about them. They eat like wolves, too. You should see Valencia when she’s starving. It’s startling.” I nod my head, I bet. 

“You’re in a better mood than when I last saw you. You guys worked it out?” I ask. Dean lets out a breath and pops a shrimp into his mouth. “Somewhat. He understands where I’m coming from, and I understand where he’s coming from, but he’s still suspended from the company.” “Well, at least you guys got somewhere; I don’t want the rest of this week to be as awkward as that dinner.” Dean shakes his head vigorously. “You won’t have to worry about that. Next time we have a problem, we’ll solve it in private.”

When the food’s gone, Dean sets the plates on the nightstand and lays down in bed with me. “I hope you’re not regretting this trip already,” Dean mumbles. I lift my head up from the pillow to look him in the eye. He’s facing forward with that worried look on his face. “Why would you think that?” Dean shrugs his shoulders and faces me. “The dinner, the amount of people here, and to top it all off, my ex-wife is here. I should have never pressured you into coming. It was completely selfish of me to ask you in the first place.” 

He blames himself for too much. “Hey, hey, I’m having a great time here. It was just the first night; we have six more days to get through. The dinner was just a normal dinner. All families have their issues. Hell, I would’ve been scared if nothing dramatic happened. You didn’t pressure me into doing anything, Dean. Whatever happens between us is because I wanted to, not because you made me.”

Dean still has that guilty look on his face. “And for the ex-wife?” He asks. I shrug my shoulders. “I’ve gotta admit, it is a bit different, but she’s staying out of my way and I’m staying out of hers, so no worries.” He lifts himself up on his forearms to get a better look at me. “So today wasn’t as bad as I thought?” He asks hopefully. I lean down and give him a kiss on the lips. I can taste the butter from the shrimp on him, and I bet he can taste the lobster from the roll. “I’d give today an eight out of ten. You took me shopping and fed me awesome food.” Dean’s blush shines through even with the dim lighting.   
“I’m glad to hear that,” he says before leaning in for a deeper kiss. His left hand lands on the side of my face, pulling me to him as he lays himself on top of me. His weight slowly makes me lean back onto the bed and spread my legs open for him to fit between them. As things begin to heat up, a thought clicks in my mind. I pull back and ask, “Did you lock the door?” Dean lets out a soft whine from the lack of contact. “What? Yeah, yeah, I did,” he answers before crashing our lips back together. 

His tongue immediately demands space into my mouth and I let it. He finds my tongue and slides his around with mine all the while trying to keep our lips together. The cool night air that was wafting through the room via the window is now doing absolutely nothing to cool me down. Maybe because I have a giant laying on top of me that’s all the while trying to get as close to me as physically possible. 

Dean’s hands slides down my body until they reach the elastic of my shorts. My heart beat races, but I don’t stop him. I guess when he notices that I’m not relenting; he goes a bit further by inching them down. I move my mouth from his and just lay fully on the pillow, staring up at him. “What are you doing?” I whisper, completely out of breath. He shakes his head. “We’re not going to do that. I know you’re not ready. I just want to try something else. Can I please?” He breathes into my open mouth. 

I have no idea what his plan is. Well, lie, I kinda do, but I’m not one hundred percent sure that we’re talking about the same thing. “What are you trying to do?” Dean must have all the patience in the world to deal with my stupid questions. He thinks for a sec, trying to get his thoughts together, and his hands still on the elastic of my shorts. “How about I just show you.” I stare at him and he stares back at me, waiting for my answer. My nerves are bad, but I trust him, so I nod my head, giving him the go. 

Dean gives me one last kiss before sliding my shorts all the way off, leaving me in my white tank top and black panties. He runs a long, slender finger down my panties, sending a shiver all through my body. Dean’s eyes flick back up to mine and he says, “Are you still okay with this?” I nod my head, not able to do anything else. 

He then slides my panties down slowly just like he did with my shorts. I lift up, making it easier for them to come off. When he slides them fully off of me, I plant my feet on the bed and spread my legs for him. Dean can see everything now. Oh, Lord. I’ve never shown another human being my downstairs in my life. Being a baby doesn’t count, I didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Dean snaps his eyes back up to me as he positions himself down there, still searching my face for any doubt. When he doesn’t find any, his head is between my legs and his arms are wrapped around my hips, pulling me closer to his face. My heart is beating so fast that I’ll bet my left butt cheek that Dean can hear it. He opens his mouth and just the warmth of his breath on me like that has already got me hot. 

One of Dean’s hands move from my hip to start parting my lips. By this moment, he has lost eye contact with me and has focused all his attention on the lower half of me. Dean’s tongue, the same tongue that was just in my mouth, creeps out to lick a stripe from down to up. That alone has me covering my mouth, making sure not to make any suspicious noise. Dean’s eyes snap back up to mine to make sure I’m okay. When he sees that I’m fine, he stiffens his tongue and flicks it over my clit. He’s done this before. He’s probably been doing this for years, but I can’t find it in myself to be mad at him with a tongue like that. 

I know I should close my eyes or even look away, but I can’t, because that’s half the fun, looking at him do it. His thumb soon replaces his tongue as I feel that wet muscle delve inside of me, fucking me with it. My fingers drown into his soft locks and pull. 

“Be as loud as you want. The walls are thick and everyone’s a heavy sleeper,” Dean mutters before going back to work. I take his advice and a litany of moans begin to leave my mouth. Sounds that I never knew that I could make. When he stops lapping at my opening, he goes back up to my clit and sucks it into his mouth. The biggest moan of them all leaves my lips after that move. “Keep doing that, pleeeaase just keep doing that,” I breathe. 

Dean obeys and continues to just suck on it. His tongue sometimes laving it up before everything goes back to the wet, hot skin inside his mouth. Soon, a weird warmth starts to spread at the pit of my belly. I don’t know what it is, but it’s making everything feel so much better. My legs start shaking, making it close to impossible to keep them up and before I know it, uncontrollable moans are pouring out of me and my whole body just feels beyond good. Like, really good. Like indescribably good. What do they call it, an orgasm? Yep, it’s an orgasm. So much pleasure is running through my body still and I don’t know when it’ll stop, not that I want it to. Dean’s erratic sucks have slowed down to little suckles. And by the little moans coming from him, he’s enjoying this, too. 

When it’s finally over (unfortunately), Dean releases my clit from his mouth, making a soft pop sound and then licking over it one last time before lifting himself up. He sits back on his haunches staring at me while he licks around his mouth trying to taste all of me. It takes me a while to stop shaking, but Dean leans down to kiss my neck soothingly. The shaking stops soon after and I push on his chest so we can be face to face. 

“Did you just make me come?” I ask him. He lets out a breathy laugh, his warm breath brushing on my face. “Yeah, I did,” Dean answers. I look down at nothing in particular. “So that’s how that feels like,” I say more to myself. He shakes his head with a smile and then leans forward to grab me in a kiss. His lips are still wet from me and his tongue brushes against mine, giving me the full taste of what my vag tastes like. Not bad, but not good. 

“You taste so good, Tambryn,” Dean all but moans when we part. Now it’s my turn to blush. How do you respond to that? “Thanks?” I settle for that because I hate silence. He chuckles. “You’re welcome.” 

Dean begins to slide from between my legs and off the bed. “You should get some sleep, we’ve got plans tomorrow,” he says while picking up the plates. I just now notice the hard-on in his sweats. My eyes widen. “You…you got hard off of eating me out?” He shrugs his shoulders with a sheepish grin. “I like doing it. And to top it all off, the sounds you were making, Tambryn,” he explains. Oh. I didn’t know I could have that affect on anybody. I pull my panties and shorts back up to their rightful place on my hips and lean back onto the bed. 

Dean dips down to give me one last kiss before leaving the room. What the fuck just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Yeah, I know it's been awhile since I've posted. It wasn't on purpose, though. Writer's block hit me hard. Well, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. And what's up with that ending? What?! Review!


	15. The Wet Spot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!

At breakfast the next morning we’re all seated around the glass table in the dining room (I just now noticed that this place had a dining room). “Good morning, all! Did everyone sleep well?” Liza asks as she takes her seat between Marlon and Isaac. Marlon scoots away a bit. Everyone says, “Yes,” to her question, going on about their room. Dean takes the seat to my left and leans in close. “Yes, Tambryn, did you sleep well?” He asks teasingly. 

No one heard him, thank God, but I put my head down anyway. “Yeah, do you like your room, Bryn? Because I know personally that I can’t really sleep in a new place,” Valerie says from across the table. At least I thought that no one heard. I give her a curt nod before taking a sip of juice. Dean chuckles from the side of me. 

“So what are we doing today?” Marlon asks. Liza nuzzles up to Isaac and says, “Well we are going on the Promenade Trails and then spend the day in Saco.” “Thank, God,” Dean mumbles under his breath. I have to stop myself from giggling. “I was gonna take Marlon out to a baseball game. The Sea Dogs are playing this afternoon,” Brendan answers. “And I’m taking my niece and my sister out to the chocolate factory!” Valencia does a little dance in her seat. “Bryn, you should come with us,” Valerie says, her sister nods her head in agreement. 

“Uhh, actually I need Tambryn today for work,” Dean chimes in. “Humph, as I suspected,” Liza mutters rather loudly. Dean looks her way, but doesn’t say anything. “Oh, alright. Next time, then,” the blue haired twin says. 

Mom calls me a little after everyone has left and Dean and I are just in the house. Dean’s in the other room getting us ready for whatever we’re gonna do (he’s still hasn’t told me, yet). “So are you enjoying yourself out there?” Mom asks. I pick at the roses on the coffee table. “Yeah, it’s cool out here, better than I expected.” 

“I’m glad. Well, we miss you here.” I snort at that. “Yeah okay, Mom. I think Renee is having the time of her life, probably had a party in my absence.” Mom’s laugh booms through the receiver. “Okay, it was a bit of lie. But I miss you, though. What do you have planned for today?” My eyes widen, trying to think up a lie. “Uhh, we’re gonna go to this chocolate factory in the downtown area,” I answer maybe a bit slower than usual. There’s an unnerving pause on her end. “That’s right up your alley, then. Well, I’m not gonna take up your time any longer. Love you, Bryn. Have fun,” she answers. I let out a deep breath. “Okay then. Love you, too.” 

We hang up after that and I go into the kitchen (of course) to find Dean packing a picnic basket. I cock an eyebrow at him. “Really, we’re having a romantic picnic in the park? I thought you knew me better than that, Dean.” He looks up at me with an amused look on his face. “I do know you better than that, Tambryn. I’m packing food for us for when we go on the boat,” he explains. I walk towards him and peep into the basket. There are four fancy sandwiches, a few chocolate bars, a bottle of iced tea, and a bottle of red wine. 

“I knew you had a boat, what did you name it?” I ask while closing the lid to the basket. Dean looks down with a blush on his cheeks and a smile on his lips. “The Wet Spot,” he mumbles under his breath. I purse my lips, trying to keep my laughter in. His eyes scan back up to my face and he lets out a soft chuckle. “Don’t laugh, I was drunk when I named it and thought it was absolutely the funniest thing on Earth.” Now that I think about it, I get the joke and it’s kinda chuckle worthy. 

I put my hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, it’s your boat, dude. You do whatever you want. Now can we go check out this boat?” He nods his head and leads us to the door. 

All we had to do was walk down the beach and we were at the dock. The dock is filled with yachts, not boats, YACHTS. I should’ve known. Dean leads us right up to a twenty foot high and fifty foot long white yacht…with The Wet Spot sprawled out so neatly on one side. “Eric, let the stairs down!” Dean yells, a young brown haired freckled dude pokes his head over the edge. A couple of seconds later, the stairs let down from the side and land at our feet. Dean steps back for me to get on first. I curtsy and take the steps one by one. 

“Hi,” I tell Eric. He gives me a bright smile with a wave. “Eric, can you go untie the yacht from the dock? You’ll find your check on the counter in the house,” Dean says, pointing to the water. Even though every word he’s spoken to this kid has been a command, he still talks to him with respect. Eric thanks Dean hurriedly before taking the steps down to the dock. 

Dean watches him untie the boat before turning back to me. “Come on, I have to get us moving from inside,” he tells me. I follow him into the cabin. Like everything else, the cabin is ginormous. There’s a seating area, a big bar, and a full bedroom in the back. Dean sets the food down on the bar and then goes into the pit to start up the boat…yacht. 

“Do you have a license or something to operate this aquatic vehicle, sir?” I ask from behind him. Dean takes his hands away from the wheel to turn around to face me with an amused look on his face. “Aquatic vehicle?” I back up with a shrug. “That’s a word, ain’t it?” His lips quirk up. “Yes, well I guess it is.” I walk over to the dash and look over at all the buttons. My eyes widen, this is complicated. “Would you like to help me start the boat?” Dean asks. “Yeah! But there’s too many buttons for me,” I tell him. He nods his head with a smirk and says, “You can take the wheel, then, and I’ll push the buttons.”  
It takes longer than I think it’s supposed to take to get a yacht moving, probably my fault. Yep, definitely my fault. There’s no reason to get into what happened, I just got confused between my left hand and my right hand. But now that we’re in the middle of the Sebago Lake, we’re outside on the deck, eating the food that he packed. 

“I kinda wanna go to that chocolate factory the twin was talking about,” I say over my mouthful of sandwich. Dean agrees and breaks off a piece of his sandwich. God, he even eats elegantly. “I knew you would. Don’t worry, I overheard them talking about bringing you back a basket full of chocolate,” he mumbles. My eyes widen in excitement. “I love them with all my heart.” Dean gives a short laugh before sipping his wine. 

“Are you an alcoholic, Dean?” I ask him curiously. He slowly lowers the glass from his lips and looks my way. “No. Why would you think that?” I shrug my shoulders. “Maybe because the only two things I’ve seen you drink are water and wine. And I only saw you drink water once! Out of the forty billion times I’ve seen you sippin’ on some wine,” I accuse jokingly. Dean looks at me a little while more before having the most adorable giggle session I’ve ever seen. 

“Ahh, Tambryn, never a dull moment with you, is there? And I am not an alcoholic…I just like a nice glass of wine,” he answers. “Or two…or three,” I say. Dean lightly pushes my shoulder with the ghost of a smile on his face. I scoot closer to him until our lips are ghosting against each other. I hear him gulp. “So what was the reason for taking me into the middle of nowhere?” Dean leans forward just a centimeter and gives my lips a quick peck. 

“I didn’t take you into the middle of nowhere. The shore is just half an hour away, silly,” he answers. I turn my head to look into the distance at the far away shore line; Dean kisses my cheek, too. I turn my head back towards him and say, “You still didn’t answer my question, Dean Winchester.” I absolutely love that handsome man, and it just dawns on me that they have the same name. Huh. Dean cocks an eyebrow at that, but doesn’t say anything about it. 

“I need a reason to take my girl out?” He asks. I shrug my shoulders and just maneuver myself onto his lap, each thigh on either side of him. “No, I guess you don’t, just wondering. And you don’t like to call me your girlfriend, do you?” It’s his turn to shrug. “I’m forty-seven, Tambryn. I need a more sophisticated word than ‘girlfriend’.” Humph, I guess he’s right. “What about beau?” I ask. He scrunches up his nose at that one. “Sounds as if I’m dating a guy.” I think again. “Hmm, what about mistress? Ohh, I like mistress!” Dean shakes his head vehemently. 

“Wouldn’t work, I’ll need a wife for you to be my mistress.” He’s right. “What about princess?” He offers. “That makes me sound like a baby, Dean.” He cracks a smile at that. “You call me ‘Deanie’, and that’s something that my sisters would call me but I still deal with it. You’re my princess,” and he seals it with a kiss. 

I pout in his lap. “Well what if someone asks if you have a girlfriend? What are you gonna say, that no, you have a princess?” I ask. He thinks about it for a moment. “I guess I couldn’t do that. Well, you’ll be my princess in private, then.” I shrug my shoulders and let it go. I guess I can deal with it. 

 

The sun is at the edge of the water and we just watch it set like those corny ass couples on those corny ass TV movies. Ugh. I’ll admit, it was kinda pretty, though. We’ve been on this boat for about three hours and haven’t even talked about last night. I mean, are you supposed to talk about that? Like, ‘Hey, my genitals were just in your mouth not too long ago. Weird, right?!’

Nah, I don’t want that, I just don’t know what to think about that. When I dated Jacob the douche, he used to try to do things like that, but I always put a stop to it. Why didn’t I try to stop him? I mean, I’ve known Jacob since I was nine years old and I just met Dean this year, what makes him so special. 

I don’t notice that I’m staring until Dean catches me and stares right back at me. “What are you thinking about?” He asks. Might as well just say it. “What happened last night…well, why did it happen?” I ask in the smallest voice I can muster. Instead of the frown that I was expecting, there’s a slight grin in its place on his lips. “I don’t know, like I said last night, I love doing it. But again, we don’t have to go further if you don’t want to,” he says. I nod my head, but still need him to answer some things for me. Damn, I should really start running these questions by Dovett before Dean.

“This is just a general question. Doesn’t have to apply to you, unless it does, but don’t you want me to return the favor or something?” I ask him. Dean’s face goes blank with my question. God, Benny needs to stop telling me about his sex life. “You mean like…” His voice slowly fades away and his eyes drift down to…well I think you guys can guess. “I mean, yeah. Do you want me to blow you? ‘Cuz I don’t know how to do that,” I tell him. 

Dean’s face heats up quickly and he looks at anything and everything except for me. “Umm, no. You don’t have to that,” he says in a rushed tone. My eyebrow rises at his words. “Hmm, you have to be the first man in the history of the world to decline a blowjob. What, you think I’d be bad at it?” I’m just toying with him at this point. It’s fun seeing him squirm. 

“I’m sure you’d do great. But I think it’d be best if we just waited for that.” He says. I’m still having my fun, so I place my hand on his hip, dangerously close to his privates. His eyes follow my movements. “I think it’d be a fair trade. You sucked me off, so I suck you off.” Dean’s eyes widen at what was just said, his eyes traveling up to mine. “You have a dirty mouth, Tambryn,” he says breathlessly. I giggle before getting off his lap, walking back into the cabin. “You won’t do anything about it, though,” I say teasingly. Since I’m too far away, I can’t really catch all of what he said. But I think it was something along the lines of waiting until I was old enough to ride. Not even gonna ask him to clarify. Dean can be dirty, too. 

About a half hour later, we’re back at the dock, Dean tying the boat back up to the port. “So did you have a good time?” He asks. We start walking back to the house, the only light guiding us are the tall lamps around the dock, but as we get away, there’s nothing left but the moon splashing onto the water. “Yeah, it was laid back. Learned a lot about you,” I say. Dean lets out a breath and I laugh. “Oh, hush, Tambryn.” I just laugh louder. 

 

When we get back to the house, everyone’s there except for Dean’s sons, and Isaac. The girls are sitting in the living room on the floor with the baby. They all turn our way when they hear us at the door. Dean had already thrown the picnic basket in his car before we came in. 

“Where’ve you two been? I thought you all would be here the whole day,” Liza asks. Dean sighs and says, “Not that it’s any of your business, but we met up with one of my clients from Seattle.” He goes over to them to kiss his daughters on the head before picking up the baby, bouncing her in his arms. He looks absolutely adorable with her. Roslyn’s smile makes Dean smile and he kisses her fat cheeks. 

“Aww, this is such a Kodak moment. Hold it!” Valencia says before reaching for her phone to get a picture. Valerie just looks up at them with a bright smile. “Aww, my little girl and my Daddy, so cute!” she squeals. After Valencia takes enough pictures to fill a whole album, we all settle down in the living room. “Where are the boys?” Dean asks as the baby tries to stuff her fingers in his mouth. Dean starts to nibble on them, making her giggle.

“Oh, Isaac took them out to that new museum across the road. You know the one with the baseball hall of fame and such,” Liza answers. Dean looks up at his ex wife with all the seriousness in the world, even though fat baby fingers are hanging from his mouth. He notices this and backs up a bit so her limbs are out of his mouth. “I was going to take them there. And I think I remember telling you that I was,” he says. Silence surrounds the air around us. Valencia cocks her head up to the stairs, and I follow her lead. Valerie gets her daughter from Dean’s arms and we leave the premises as soon as possible. 

“Oh, don’t forget to grab your chocolate basket, it’s in the kitchen,” Valencia says. “Yeah, and meet us in our room!” The other twin says before taking the steps two at a time. Almost forgot about the most important part. I run into the kitchen to grab the brown woven basket with a golden ribbon wrapped around the handle. It’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The basket is nearly bursting with expensive boxed chocolates. I have to refrain myself from devouring the French chocolate infused with edible gold. Now I have never wanted to eat gold so bad like I do right now.

But, I pull my hand back from the box and tip toe over to the stairs. The living room is right next to the foyer, so it’s extremely easy to hear what they’re saying without even being seen. I sit down on the steps quietly and listen. I know, I’m terrible. I feel terrible, but I just can’t help it. “Why would you do that, Liza? You know taking them there meant a lot to me. Brendan’s hardly talking to me and Marlon lives with you, so I needed that, Liza. You know I did,” Dean says. Their profile is all I can see with one person on each side of the coffee table. Dean’s face is red with in a way I’ve never seen before. His face is red as if he’s hurt or angry, or both. I just wanna give him a hug and a cookie. 

Liza shrugs her shoulders, looking down at her pedicure, totally uninterested. “Isaac likes baseball, so I told him to take the boys over to the museum. I forgot that you were the person that told me about it. Oh well, you’ll have other chances to spend time with them,” she says it as if she doesn’t have a care in the world. With how nice and calm Dean is, it’s not surprising that Liza walked over him for so long. I don’t think I can keep watching this without storming over there and bitch slapping her myself. 

I silently slink my way up the steps and walk into the only lit room. This is my first time being in here so I look around a bit. It’s bigger than my room to accommodate the two Queen sized canopy beds. One bed is a pale pink color, and the other one is blue. The walls are an odd stance between aqua green and blue. The three of them are in the middle of the room, sitting on a large plush rug. “Close the door after you,” One of the twins say. I turn around and shut the door. 

“I think after hearing them argue for ten years straight that I’d get used to it. But I guess I was wrong,” Valerie says forlornly. Valencia intertwines her fingers and clenches them. “I just hate the way he lets her talk to him, ya know? Daddy doesn’t deserve that and she knows it…we all know it,” she says. Roslyn’s in the middle of them, trying to fight off her sleep. Valencia shrugs her shoulders and then looks over at me, a smile popping up on her face when she does and says, “We shouldn’t talk this way in front of Tambryn, Daddy’s her boss,” 

Valerie’s brows draw together in confusion. “So? She was brought on a family trip so she’s technically family,” she defends. Really, I’m counted as family? “Well, what about the other assistants Daddy’s brought with him in the past? You never called them family,” Valencia accuses. I’m still on the fact that I’m listening to all of this…let alone that she just called me family. 

“That’s b’cuz all of Daddy’s assistants have been old,” she looks over at me, “And I like her.” I smile at her and say, “You’re growing on me, too.” They both laugh. “Sassy, I like it,” Valerie chuckles. I was hoping they’d get it. 

“But seriously, I’m sorry that you had to hear that. She’s always being a douche bag about something,” Valencia says after the laughter dies down. I wave it off. “Nothing I’ve never heard before.” Valerie winces. “You’re parents argue like that, too?” It’s not as hard to talk about as it used to be. “Yeah and sometimes worse. It’s awkward, but nothing else.” “Psh, it’s awkward for us.” 

I wonder how bad their fights did get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review! Oh, and I don't want anyone getting any wise ideas about Dean being based off of Supernatural Dean, because he's not. Just wanted to make sure.


	16. Aaand, We're Back

We’re day five in this trip and I’m lying out on the beach with the twins and the baby. Dean went out with his sons for some bonding or something, and Liza and Isaac are out doing their own thing. Valerie and Roslyn are sitting under the big red umbrella, watching Valencia and I build a sandcastle. It’s the shittiest sandcastle ever made, but hey, it’ll do. 

“A few days ago Liza said that you two met before, how was that?” Valencia asks while patting down a patch of sand. I sit back and think back to how I met their mother…haha. “Dean and I were on a lunch break and he needed to get a belt so we went to the Water Tower and your mom was there,” I sorta, kinda lie. The sisters share a look before their eyes go back to me. “What she say?” Valerie asks. I shrug my shoulders, trying to choose my words. “She embarrassed your dad in front of the whole store and asked if Dean and I were sleeping together.”

The twins share another look and say simultaneously, “Sounds about right.” They know their mother so well. “I’m glad she didn’t scare you off. She has a tendency to intimidate people,” Valencia says. I wave it off. “It was awkward, that was about it.” They both nod their heads, and then my phone rings. I look down at the Caller I.D. to see that it’s Dovett. I excuse myself from them and take a little walk down the beach. 

“Yes, snookums,” I say into the phone receiver. Dove’s familiar giggle comes through before he cuts himself off. “Don’t get cute. Where the hell have you been?” Dove asks. Didn’t I tell this dude that I was gonna be gone? Oh yeah, I never told him when. “I’m on the trip with Dean. But, I’m gonna be home in two days.” There’s silence in the background and the sound of him lighting a cigarette. “Oh. Well, how’s that going for you?” He asks after exhaling. I’ve been trying for months to wean Dovett off of squares, but he’s still doing it. Dumb ass. 

“It’s going good. Got some new clothes, three-hundred dollars worth of chocolate in the best woven basket, and I’m staying in a beach house,” I tell him. Dove lets out an amused sound over the phone. “Make sure to bring some back. So…anything happen between you and Dean? You know, like…bang, bang.” I roll my eyes; it was only a matter of time. 

“No,” there’s hesitancy in my voice, and unfortunately Dovett knows me too well to just ignore it. “Bitch, don’t feed me that lie. Did he get the cat?” He says. Oh, Lord. “No, my hymen is still intact, so calm yourself,” I say. I can literally hear the gears turning in his head. “You blew him, didn’t you?! Shit, did you bite him? I did the first time I gave a B.J.” God, his imagination will be the death of us both. “No, I didn’t blow him, Dove…” I trail off and leave the ball in his court. 

“Then…he blew you. Oh my God, Tambryn! That’s a plot twist I never saw coming! Speaking of coming…did you cum?” He’s so invasive, but hey, so am I. A small grin lands on my face, remembering the feeling. “Yeah, I did. His tongue is really talented.” Dove giggles as if he’s blushing. “Tambryn, you are too much right now. That’s surprising; I wouldn’t think he would be good at giving head. I just thought he would be good at receiving it. Which I’d never have a problem with helping him out in that department.” I shake my head and say, “Dove…I will cut you.” The blonde just laughs over the phone and says, “Oh, Bryn, this is why I love you.” “Whatevs.” 

“So what’s been going on with the family?” I rack my brain for things to tell him. “Oh, nothing really. I’m with Dean’s daughters right now at the beach. But I’ll give you the juicy details when I get back, deal?” I say. He lets out an exasperated sigh, but says, “Okay. Can we have a sleepover at my house like we used to?” His voice is so high pitched when he says that, I can’t help but smile. “Of course we can, snookums.” Dovett gives me his full blown giggle. “Great, well I’ll let you get back to your beach date, see ya when you get back.” “Later, Dove.” After we hang up, I walk back over to the twins.

It’s our last night here in Portland before we go back to Chicago in the morning and we’re all on the patio, crowded around the bonfire sitting on the wrap-around couch. Dean’s on my right and Marlon’s on my left. It’s surprisingly cold out here so we’re all wrapped up in blankets. “So, Tambryn, you’re going to be a senior this fall, correct?” Liza asks while taking a sip of champagne. I nod my head, yes. 

“What school do you go to?” “Chi Arts High School,” I answer. Her eyebrows rise, impressed…well, at least I think she’s impressed. “Ohh, nice school. What do you go there for?” Is this an interrogation? “Dance,” keep the answers short and sweet. Liza leans forward with a smile on her face. “A dancer, huh? You know my sister used to dance on Broadway. Me, Dean, and the kids would go to her shows sometimes. She did Cats, Chicago, Anything Goes, The Pajama Game. Ahh, now she’s a choreographer. But what do you plan on doing after school?” 

Umm, this conversation reminds me of the one I had with my mom a few weeks ago, and I still don’t know what to do. “I don’t know yet. So many options,” I tell her. She nods her head, looking down as if I just disappointed her or some shit. What the hell does she have to be disappointed in? “What’s wrong with you, Liza?” Dean asks. Liza shrugs her shoulders and says, “Oh nothing. I just like to see kids have a plan after high school is all.” I let out a harsh breath and Dean rubs my thigh under the blanket. “She still has time, Liza,” he says.

“Yeah, and I still don’t know what I’m doing after high school, either,” Marlon adds. Thanks, dude, good to hear I’m not alone. “Hmm, and that’s why you’re living with your brother isn’t it? Because you have no ambition,” Liza retorts. Here we go again. Marlon leans forward, nostrils flaring. “No, I’m living with Brendan because you’re such a controlling bitch. Not everyone wants you to plan their whole lives for them, Liza. You should know since you’re on your second husband, right?” Whoa. “Marlon, don’t talk to your mother like that,” Isaac chastises. Dean turns to the man and says, “Isaac, he’s my son, I’ll deal with him, not you.” And with that, Dean gets up and grabs Marlon and they both go into the house. 

It’s quiet for a bit before Liza leans back into the pillows. “Oh, if the boy really knew why we’re divorced. Wouldn’t that be something?” I cock my head at her words. What does she mean by that? “You had a part in that too, Liza, so stop trying to blame Dad for every little thing,” Valencia says. Round two. I take that as my cue to leave. Before opening the door, though, I check to see if Dean and Marlon are in there. When it’s clear, I go in and sneak up to my room, hearing them in the living room. Considering I’ve eavesdropped already on this trip, I don’t even stop to investigate. 

When I get to my room, I just start packing. Not to be judgmental, but this family is really fucked up! And the weird thing is, is that it’s the adults’ fault. I look over at the clock and it reads eleven thirty-two at night. It’s about time to go to sleep anyway. 

Breakfast was as weird as I was expecting. Minimal talk, just “Can you past the toast,” type talk. We get done with that as fast as possible and all that’s left to do is leave. Dean and I leave after the twins. “Bye, Daddy, love you! Bryn, let’s hang out the next time I go to Chicago, yeah?!” Valencia yells out the window. I nod my head and wave with a smile. Valerie sticks her hand out the window to give us a wave, but goes back to focusing on the road right after. 

“Happy to be going back?” Dean asks as we sit on the jet, waiting for all of our luggage to be carried on. There’s tons more of luggage that I’m bringing back than what I came here with since Dean bought me so much, and not to mention the giant basket of goodness. “Yeah, are you?” I ask. Dean’s eyes light up as he nods his head. “Definitely, especially after last night. Sorry, that you had to see that.” I dismiss his apology with a wave of my hand. “No worries. But is Marlon okay? He still looked a bit pissed this morning.” “He’ll be all right. He was worse when I took him in last night.” I nod my head and look out the window. 

We land in Bloomington around two in the afternoon and make it in front of my house around three forty-five. Well, not exactly right in front of my house, down the street from it. “I may be going into work later this week, I’ll call you then,” Dean says as he hands me the luggage I came with. We agreed that the rest will just stay at his house for now. “Okay, I’ll…be around then,” I say, standing on my tip toes. He grins and leans down to give me a kiss. I back away shortly after, not wanting Ms.Remington to see. She’s this nosey ass old lady that just loves snitching on all the kids on the block. 

“See ya, Deanie,” I say, making my way to my house. “See ya, Prancer,” Dean calls back, getting into his car. 

Right when I get into the house, Mom is right there; ready to drag me into a tight hug. After I get over the fact that I can hardly breathe, I wrap my arms around her. “Miss you, too, ma.” She lets me go to look me over. “Ahh, I have my girl back,” she muses. “You do know I’m standing right here, right?” Renee asks from the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, hush. You know what I mean,” Mom says. 

They both follow me up to my bedroom. “So tell me all about it. What did you guys do, what did you guys see?” Renee sits down on the bean bag chair in the corner, and Mom actually helps me. I tell them all the adventures of Portland, except for the family problems and excluding the actual people I was there with. “Ohh, sounds so fancy,” Mom muses. “Doesn’t it?” Renee agrees suspiciously, staring right at me. You should never trust what Renee’s going to do or what she knows when she has that look in her eyes. The phone rings from downstairs and Mom goes to get it, leaving my little sister and me alone. 

Renee walks over to where I’m folding clothes at my dresser. “So you had a nice time?” She asks. My eyes narrow, but I nod my head. “Yeah…?” She nods her head, too, looking down at my clothes. “I’m sure it was extravagant.” That’s an expensive word. I continue putting clothes into the drawer and ask, “Why do you say that?” She taps the bobble head of Cher that Dovett gave me two Christmases ago. “Nothing in particular. Just the fact that you went to Portland with the man that owns our electricity.” 

I stop folding the clothes and just stare at them. What. The. Fuck. I break out of my daze and run over to the door to shut it. I turn back over to Renee and she’s standing there with that little smirk on her face as if she’s won something. And she probably has. “What the hell are you talking about?” I ask. “It’s too late to play dumb, Bryn. I saw him outside last week when I was doing my early morning yoga exercises,” she explains. Shit, I forgot that she’s into that now. 

“And you didn’t tell Mom?” Renee shakes her head vigorously. “Are you crazy?! My sister is going out with the richest guy I’ve ever been in contact with and you think I’d tell Ma who would put an end to it all?” Oh. So that’s what she’s getting at. “What do you want?” I ask. She pokes her lips out, thinking. “Hmm, I don’t know. My bike is looking rusty. Maybe a new bike?” She asks. I flare my nostrils. “There are a few questions I have for you lil’ sis. First one is how are you going to get a new bike when Mom is the one who buys you everything? And the second one is, how long is this Christmas list of things you want?” I ask. That stupid condescending smirk has dropped from her face. 

“I’ll figure it out,” she mumbles while walking towards the door; I stop her, though. “Wait! You’re not telling Mom, right?” She shakes her head no and leaves. I fall back onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling. Dean is not gonna like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, it's a bit short. But I hope you all enjoy it.


	17. At the Office

“What do you mean she knows?!” Lily squeals from my desk chair. They came over just a few hours ago and we’ve done absolutely nothing since then. We’ve just been lazing around, eating pizza, on the internet, and just talking. I shrug my shoulders, putting my fifth piece of pizza down, I’m going to be so out of shape come this Fall. “She does early morning yoga and saw us outside.” Benny has his hands clasped behind his back, leaning on my headboard like he owns the place. “I don’t see why you two are so surprised. I mean, we are talking about Renee. The same girl that said she’d make sure I’ll never have kids if I walked into her room again. She’s sneaky, and mean and scary, and-” I cut Benny off with, “Anyway, she wants a new bike and wants Dean to pay for it.” Lily’s eyes narrow. “That’s stupid.” I nod my head, agreeing with her. “She should obviously get him to pay her five hundred bucks a month instead,” she finishes. The room is quiet, Benny and I staring at Lily. “You uhh, sound like you’ve been thinking about this for awhile,” he says. Lily shakes her head with a smile. “Oh, no. it’s just a thought. I’d never do it, Bryn. Promise.” I know she wouldn’t do it. I can’t remember the last time Lily did something bad…excluding the times that she’s gotten in trouble with us, because of us.

“So what are ya gonna tell him?” Benny asks. I sit back onto the headboard and look up at the ceiling, thinking. The bed dips with Lily getting in with us. “I don’t know. But I do know that he’s gonna freak.” “When do you see him again?” Lily asks. “Soon, he hired me as his assistant at his office.” Benny lets out a laugh, holding his stomach with one hand and reaching for another slice of pizza with the other. “Oh, God. That’s so weird.” I turn to him and ask, “How’s that weird, Benito?” He takes his sweet time answering, focusing on the food more than my question. “Before I came over here, I was watching some office porn between the secretary and the boss. Hehe, you’re the secretary and he’s the boss. That’s what’s funny.” Now I wish he didn’t answer. I wonder if he and Dove watched the same one.

 

A few days later, Dean calls me to go to the office with him. He was gonna come by to pick me up, but I insisted on taking the train over. Mom was so proud to hear that I got a Summer job that she picked out my whole outfit. She put me in a white button down shirt that’s tucked into my black pencil skirt. She wanted me to leave two buttons unbuttoned, but I felt stuffy and unbuttoned four when I got on the train. Little bit of boobies are showing, but it’s all right. I’ve always driven by Mavs Incorporated, but never been inside. The first floor is gigantic so to imagine that there are about fifty other floors is just mind blowing. Everything’s glass and everyone’s in expensive suits. I feel so out of place.

“You look lost. Need any help?” The long haired woman from behind the desk asks me. I smile at her and walk toward the desk. “Yes, hi, umm I’m Dea- Mr.Maverick’s new assistant. Do you know what floor his office is on?” I ask. She gives me a warm smile as if we’ve known each other forever and says, “Just take the elevator to the top floor and you can’t miss his office when you get there,” she answers. Well of course. “Thanks. Do you uhh, know where said elevators are?” I feel like such an idiot. She nods her head and points to a glass wall with black elevators between them. Extremely fancy. I give her a smile before walking away.

I get into a crowded elevator. I look at the buttons, looking for the largest number. “Heyyyy, I remember you.” That arrogant voice sounds kinda familiar. I look up to see the dude from Everest last month. Garrett? Grey? Grey-Greyson, Greyson, that’s his name. Oh, gawd. I force a smile on my face and say, “Hi.” He gives me a nod and asks, “Going to Maverick’s office?” I nod my head, punching, literally punching the sixty seventh floor button, praying to God that this’ll hurry up. “You need some help getting there?” He asks. I shake my head, looking up at the number three lighting up. Jesus. “Oh, you’ve been here before?” Can this guy just leave me the fuck alone? “Nope, but the woman at the desk gave me great directions,” I say as fast as possible. “Leave the poor girl alone, Greyson,” a deep voice from behind says. It’s still a bit crowded, so I don’t see who the voice belongs to, but by Greyson’s smile, he knows the guy pretty well. “What? I’m just being nice,” Greyson defends jokingly. “Nah, you’re freaking her out is what you’re doing.” We’re on the fifty-fifth floor and most of the elevator clears out, including Greyson. “Hi, I’m Alex.” A brown haired freckled middle-aged man comes into my view. He holds out his hand for me to shake. I take his hand and shake it. “Tambryn.” Alex nods his head and stuffs his hand back into his pocket. “Sorry about that guy. He hits on anything that breathes. It’s a wonder he hasn’t been fired yet since he’s a regular in HR.” That’s not surprising. “I know what you mean. I met him before and he was just as creepy then as he is now,” I agree. Alex laughs looking up at the numbers on top. We’re on the sixty-sixth floor. “You know we’re actually going to the same place right about now,” he says. “Oh really?”

The elevator doors open and we get off to a sea of people doing this, doing that. But it’s odd, because it looks so differently than what I had imagined. You know in the movies how they have cubicles everywhere? Well, there aren’t any cubicles here! I guess this floor is just for the rich people to work. It’s just a vast open space of certain areas where people have meetings and surrounding that are offices. “Hey, Maverick! I’ve got your assistant!” Alex yells. I follow his line of sight to see Dean sitting with a few other people. Dean’s blue eyes meet mine and he smiles and walks toward us, completely forgetting about the people he was just sitting with. Dean shakes hands with Alex before turning toward me and lending out his hand. I’m tempted to jump into his arms and kiss him, but we’re surrounded by his peers. I shake his hand with a smile. “When you’re done introducing Miss Tambryn to the workplace, I need to talk to ya, Mav. Nice meeting you.” Alex parts with a smile. Dean turns to me with that bright dimply smile of his. “So…want a tour?” He asks. I nod my head and he motions for me to follow him.

Dean shows me where the bathrooms are, the lounge area, the giant lounge area that has a flat screen mounted to the wall with a sectional couch, the public kitchen that I wanted to raid so bad, but Dean said that other people’s food were in there, the copying room, and then leads us over to his office. And right outside his office is where my desk is. Ohh, the fanciest desk I’ve ever had. There’s a top of the line Mac computer, a lamp, and a telephone. I go over to hug the computer. He lets out a chuckle and opens up the door to his office. My jaw drops at the size of the room. This dude loves his floor to ceiling windows. Behind his dark wooden desk, you can see the whole city. To the left, there’s a built in bookshelf filled with all kinds of books. Are they real? I walk over to the bookshelf and pick up one of the hardcover books. The novel is named Gatsby’s Smile. I’ve only read The Great Gatsby. I turn around and catch Dean staring at my ass. I turn around and look at my ass, too. “Nuh-uh, Maverick. You can’t do that in a workplace. Sexual Harassment!” I yell. The office door is closed and the door that leads into my “office” is closed, also. “You like it,” He says as he walks over to me. I nod my head, it is true.

“Have you read all of these books?” I ask, handing over the one in my hand. He takes it and looks at it with a smile on his face. “Yes, I have actually. This is my favorite to be honest,” he hands it back to me, “You can read it if you want. Do you read for fun?” I shrug my shoulders. “Sometimes, gotta find the right story, though.” “What’s your favorite book?” He asks. I walk over to his desk and sit right on top of it…’cuz well I can. “Ever heard of, In Mike We Trust?” I ask. Dean shakes his head no. “What’s it about?” “A gay kid that scams people with his uncle. It’s a good book.” Dean has an amused look on his face. “You’re interested in anything that involves gay people, aren’t you?” I nod my head with a smile. “Hang around Dove a little bit longer, Dean. You’re gonna get interested in their life, too.”

Dean places each hand on his desk on either side of my hips, boxing me in. He leans down so we’re face-to-face. “You look so professional,” he breathes. I giggle. “I gotta look the part.” Dean smiles and traces my jaw line with the tip of his nose until our lips are inches away from each other. “I know your mother didn’t let you walk out the house with your shirt halfway open,” his breath brushes against my lips. We both look down at my buttoned blouse. The top of my boobs are showing. “She didn’t. I unbuttoned it when I got on the train. It was too constricting. Plus, I really don’t think it’s bothering you too much,” I say. He chuckles and then leans in for a kiss. Our lips meet and I forget that we’re even in the office. I wrap my arms around his neck to pull him in closer. His tongue swipes the outline of my mouth before diving back into mine. It feels as if he’s trying to engulf me whole in the best way possible. From the force of him taking what he wants, I’m now supporting myself on my forearms. His large warm hand slides its way up my thigh until it stops at my hip, resting there. Soon, my neck gets tired of holding my head up and I just fall back onto his desk. Our lips separate and I feel his wet, swollen lips kiss the valley between my boobs before his body leaves me entirely. “Worn out already?” He asks with that smug look on his face. After catching my breath, I collect myself and stand on my own two feet. “Don’t be so proud of yourself, old man. Don’t forget that you made me support all of your weight,” I joke. He swipes at his lips, wiping away the saliva and my lip balm.

“Since I’m done harassing you, can I show my assistant how to do her job?” Dean asks. I roll my eyes and follow him out to my desk. After Dean shows me how to work the phone (dial his extension and putting people on hold), giving me the passwords to everything, and giving me his agenda book, I’m left alone at my desk since he had to go to a meeting.

Renee calls me while I’m burning time on Facebook. “So have ya told ‘im yet?” She asks. I scoff and roll my eyes. “No, not yet. But he’ll know before I go home today. Did you think about what I said about the bike?” There’s silence on the other end. “You think Mom would be too suspicious if I get a new bike?” God, why is she my sister? “I can’t stress this enough, Renee, you’re thirteen years old. Of-fucking-course she’s gonna be suspicious,” and that’s when I remember some valuable information. Dean opens the door to my little spot, his mouth open as if he were about to say something before he closes it when he sees me on the phone. “Renee, I’ll talk to you when I get home,” I tell her before hanging up.

“That sounded pretty important, you didn’t have to hang up,” he says, sitting on the edge of my desk. I shake my head and say, “It’s nothing. So what were you gonna say?” “I was going to say that it’s lunch time,” he says. I perk up at that. “Oh! Let me pick the place!” He gives me an amused smile. “Where would you like to go, Princess?” Oh, Lord. I just love the way that word sounds in his mouth. “McDonald’s.” The smile falters from his face. It makes me chuckle. “Why?” He asks. “Why not? McDonald’s is great.” “McDonald’s is death,” Dean retorts. He is so un-American. “The best death that a fella could have,” I poke his nose. “I refuse to eat anywhere with the lightest thing on the menu is just water.” I roll my eyes. “Well, what about Chipotle?” He shrugs his shoulders.

Dean ends up getting someone to drive up the street to get the food so we could stay at the office and he can work on a presentation. I sit on his desk and watch him work, still trying to think of how I’m gonna tell him. “I know you’ve got something on your mind, let me hear it,” Dean says while abandoning his work, and turning to me. I shake my head and hoist my legs up onto the desk, crossing them. Dean’s eyes slide down to look at my legs that are inches away from him. “No, I don’t want you to get behind in your work,” I tell him. My words knock him out of his daze and his eyes come back up to mine. Dean turns back to the files and closes them, all of his work sliding into a drawer. Then he pulls me by the waist so now I’m sitting where his work used to be. My legs are on either side of his chair with him between them. “Dean, you wouldn’t hear anything I said in this position anyway,” I tell him. There’s a small pause before his eyes meet mine again. “I heard some of what you said.” A small smile is on my face as I ruffle his soft hair. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” He asks seriously concerned. I’m still too afraid to tell him. Dean’s hands slide up my thighs as my skirt hitches up because of it. “Well, what about you think of what you want to tell me while I do something in the meantime.” His fingertips meet the hem of my panties and pull them down. My eyes widen and I stop his hands from moving any further. “We’re at your work!” I squeak. He huffs a laugh. “The door’s locked and almost everyone has gone to lunch, nothing to worry about.” He assures me. If he says no one will catch us then there’s no legit reason to object, especially if it’s gonna buy me some time.

His hands get back to work with pulling down my panties until they’re completely off, and sets them down next to me. I plant each foot on the arms of his chair and lean back onto my hands. Dean’s head ducks between my legs and he just goes to work. My head falls back at the familiar but wonderful feeling from the Portland trip. His tongue flicks inside of me and I yank his hair, as if I’m trying to get him even closer. “Oh my God. We’re a fucking cliché of a bad porno!” I say between moans. I can feel rather than hear his chuckle. I don’t know how much time has passed, but that warm, bubbling feeling starts to become more and more intense by the second. My legs begin to lose their balance on the arms of the chair, so I just set them on either side of Dean’s legs. I try to quiet myself, but that gets harder by the second with each flick of his tongue on my clit.

Then, a knock sounds from the door. “Hey, Mav! It’s Alex, open up the door, man.” Fuck! Dean looks up at me with a question in his eyes. “Not yet, not yet,” I whisper. “Just a second, I gotta finish this presentation,” Dean says quickly before getting back to me. It only takes a few more licks and sucks and then I’m done. I bite down on my lip to keep from screaming, but it’s so damn hard. “Hey, where’s your assistant, the girl?” Alex asks from behind the door. When I can talk normally, or close to it, I say, “Yeah, I’m in here. Lemme open the door for you.” I jump down from his desk and Dean tosses my panties to me and I pull them back up. I have to focus on getting my breathing under control even though I’m still going through the aftershocks of my orgasm. I slide back into my heels and run over to get the door. “Hi!” I say a little too brightly. Alex gives me a polite smile and holds up the Chipotle bag. I take it from him and he carries the drinks to the desk.

“I grabbed the food from Romano thinking I’ll just bring it to ya since I was comin’ this way anyway,” Alex explains. Dean nods his head, taking out the burrito bowls. My thighs clench as I take a seat, trying to hurry up these damn aftershocks. “I never introduced you two properly. Tambryn, this is Alex, one of my oldest friends,” Dean says as he passes me my bowl. I smile up at Alex before digging into my food. “I _am_ your oldest friend, Dean,” Alex turns to me. “Bryn, I’ve been around Mav, here so long that I remember when his ex-wife was actually nice.” “When was she ever?” Dean asks. They both burst into laughter. I shake my head at the both of them, continuing on with this glorious bowl.

“Anyway, so what brought you here?” Dean asks when their laughter dies down. Alex snaps his fingers as if he just remembered what he came in for. “Oh yeah! Dean, my man! I was wondering what you were doing this weekend.” Dean raises an eyebrow and looks over to me. “Oh, boy. Whenever he asks what I’m doing this weekend, it’s trouble,” he tells me. “No, don’t make me look bad in front of your assistant, Mav. I’m the excitement in your life. So anything planned this weekend?” Alex asks again. Dean shakes his head. “Not that I know of.” Alex’s face lights up. “Great! ‘Cuz you’re going with me to this dinner party in Oak Brook. I’ve got a date, young, too. Twenty-four years old and she has a friend, just for you.” I stop chewing and look up at Dean. Dean looks at me before looking back at his friend. “Why can’t you just go with the both of them? You’ve had threesomes before, Alex. And it’s a shame that I know that, but oh well.” I smile at him, good boy. “Nah, I already promised that I was bringing my guy Mav with me. We can’t disappoint the girls, now can we?” Alex says while wrapping his arm around Dean’s shoulders. Dean’s eyes keep flickering over to me in question. Oh, he’s so adorable. “Yeah, Mr.Maverick, you should go. You do work a lot,” I say. “See, Dean, _every_ body knows you work too much. Have a lil fun. What happened to the party goer I used to know, huh? He came out for a hot second a few months ago. Don’t forget I was there with you in Costa Rica. Eh, remember Costa Rica? You had a different lady on your arm each day.” Really? Dean Maverick goes through women? I’m not questioning that he’s not attractive enough to do that. It’s just that he seems too polite and scared to be fucking women like that.

“I guess I’ll go, then,” Dean relents. Alex’s face widens into a big grin. “That’s my boy! Listen, I’ll send you the info later today, alright?” He asks while walking backwards to the door. “I guess,” Dean mutters. Alex nods his head and then looks over at me. “See ya later, Bryn. Hey, do people call you that? ‘Bryn’, I mean,” He asks, reaching behind himself to turn the door handle. “Yeah, they do,” I answer. He makes a tsk noise with his teeth before saying, “Dammit, I wanted to be the first one to give somebody a nickname. Maybe next time then.”

After Alex leaves, the room is back to silent. “He’s been diagnosed with ADHD since we were fifteen. That’s why he talks a mile a minute,” Dean explains. That makes sense. “I like him, you’ve never mentioned your friends before,” I say while filling my mouth with rice and corn. Dean finally takes a seat at his desk to get started on his food. He shrugs. “Not that many of them. And you wouldn’t believe me anyway if I told you I had a friend like him.” I giggle, he’s right. “So what’s up with these ‘different ladies for each day’?” I ask, not out of jealousy, but out of amusement. “At that time, I hadn’t been with another woman in over twenty years. There are women everywhere in Costa Rica, so I went a little crazy,” he says. Ahh, I see what he’s saying.

“So are you going to tell me what’s been bothering you now?” Dean inquires. I try to hide my smile at his persistent concern. Might as well just tell him. “You remember my sister, Renee, right?” Dean pauses for a second, thinking. “Yes, I remember her. I told her that I liked her braids and she said that I was tall. Odd one she is. But what about her?” Ugh, no one told me she said that at the recital. “Well, when you came to my house to pick me up for the trip…she uhh…she kinda saw us…” I haven’t looked at him since this conversation has started. It’s quiet between us, our food going untouched. “I thought you said no one would be up,” Dean says in a dark voice that I’ve never heard from him. “Me too! I forgot about her doing stupid yoga in the morning. But she said she wouldn’t tell.” “And you believed her?” “Yes! I was gone for a whole week, Dean and she didn’t tell my mom, so I’m pretty sure she won’t tell.”

“Pretty sure isn’t enough for me, Tambryn.” I set my bowl down on his desk and finally look up at him. He’s staring back at me with a forlorn look in his eyes. “Then what do you want, Dean? You don’t want to be with me anymore?” My heart is beating as fast as it can, dreading his answer. “No, I don’t want to do that. It’s enough already that three of your friends know. But your sister knowing, too? I mean, siblings love telling on each other, I just don’t want her to get mad at you one day and just go tell your mother because of it,” he explains. I nod my head, a bit relieved, but understanding where he’s coming from. “I’m gonna talk to her when I get home tonight to make sure she doesn’t say anything,” I tell him. “What are you going to tell her?” He asks. I fidget with my hands. “It’s kind of personal, can you-can you just trust that I’m going to take care of it?” His blue eyes stare back into my brown ones before he says anything. “Okay, I trust you.”

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. I answer some phone calls, try to lighten the mood between Dean and me (getting just one smile out of him), and joke around with Alex. Soon, it’s time to go and Dean takes me home. “Call me after you talk to your sister, ‘kay?” He asks as he leans back into his seat. I nod my head and climb over to give him a kiss. “I will, promise.” “See you at the office,” Dean gives me a half smile when he’s done talking. “At the office,” I agree. “And please don’t fret, Dean ‘cuz then I’ll fret. I’ll fix this.” He nods his head and says, “I’m sorry, I don’t want you to panic. Enjoy your night, alright?” I give him one more kiss before opening the car door and getting out. I walk down the street to my house, hearing Dean’s car drive by when I open the door to my house.

Different spices waft through the air and my belly starts to rumble immediately. “Hey! How was my working girl’s first day?!” Mom asks while spreading an egg wash on the pot pies. My mom is into making dinner pies with whatever packed into it. At least the stuff is good. I think this will be part of her Fall menu; Renee and I are always her guinea pigs for new recipes. Renee’s at the table, drawing some odd piece. “It was good. Nice people. How was your day, ma?” I ask, kissing her cheek. She rolls her eyes. “Ugh, terrible. Sometimes I can’t even handle these stuck up rich people. But it’s good to hear that my girls had a good day.” I give her a smile and look over at Renee, who’s already looking at me with an eyebrow cocked up high. “Hey, Renee, I gotta talk to ya,” I say while making my way over to the stairs. “Oh…you guys have private conversations now? Whatever, I’ll just call y’all down when it’s ready,” Mom tells us.

When we make it up to my room, I close the door and take a seat on my bed, taking off my heels. Renee takes a seat on my bean bag chair and says, “So did you tell him?” I throw the shoes in my closet and they bang against the wall loudly. “Yeah, I told him.” “How’d he take it?” I wave my hand at her question dismissively. “That doesn’t matter. But I’m not gonna tell him to buy you a bike.” That takes her by surprise and I almost laugh. “What?” I nod my head and say, “You heard exactly what I said.” “You want me to tell Mom?” I rise from my bed and walk over to where she’s sitting and look down at her. “No I don’t want you to tell Mom, but I know you won’t. I fucking hate the way you just walk around as if you’re the only one who knows people’s secrets. If you tell her do you know how much shit we’d all be in? Not just me, but you, Mom, my friends, we’d all be in that. You don’t fucking think, Renee and that’s the problem.”

She stands up for some reason, I guess she thought she was gonna grow taller than me if she got up so abruptly. “It doesn’t matter because at least you’d be in the most trouble.” I’m done with this back and forth. “If you tell her, I’m gonna tell her about your little ‘habit’. D’ya want her to know about that?” Her eyes widen to an alarming size and I swear she stopped breathing. Her hand flies to her left wrist to make sure her thick bracelets are covering what should be covered. “You wouldn’t,” she seethes. I laugh in her face. “Try me.” We have a stare down a little while longer before she looks away, her eyes watering. “I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine. Deal?” I ask. Even though she’s not happy about it, she nods her head anyway. “No, I want to hear you say it, Renee.” She lets out a loud sigh before looking up at me. “I won’t tell Mom about Dean if you won’t tell her about me.” I give her a smile and then hand her the tissue box that was lying on my floor. “Here, wipe your face.” She snatches the box from me and I open the door to go back downstairs.

I may be mean for holding something like that over her head, but Mom **cannot** find out about this, at least not now. Mom looks surprised to see us when we come back downstairs. “Oh, well dinner’s not ready yet. Give it a couple of minutes,” she says. I nod my head and motion for Renee to follow me into the living room. “You okay?” I ask her. She wipes at her eyes a little while longer. “Like you care.” I roll my eyes. “Whatever.” My phone buzzes and it’s a text from Dean.

_Did you talk to your sister?_

_I text back, Yeah, she’s definitely not gonna say anything._

_Good._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed :D


	18. Dove's Place

Dean dropped me off at Dovett’s apartment before he went out with Alex and Alex’s lady friends. Even though he didn’t have to, Dean assured me that he wasn’t interested in the girls. (“You haven’t even met them yet, Dean. They could be super models.” “I’ve dated super models and never really seen the appeal). 

Dove, Robbie, and I are in the small living room. It’s comfy, colorful, with miss-matched furniture and antiques. I’ve been here so many times that I can point out every picture, every figurine, everything. We’re all sitting on the floor with mountains of pillows to lie on while we listen to the music in the background and share a joint. 

“I’m a terrible person,” Dove says. His voice is squeakier than normal since he’s trying to hold in as much of the smoke as possible. He passes the blunt over to me and I inhale as much as possible. “Why d’ya say that?” I ask. “Because you’re a minor and I’m setting a bad example by sharing illegal substances with you,” he explains. I roll my eyes and pass it over to Robbie. Robbie’s a meat head, so I’m surprised he even does things like this. But hey, the man is full of surprises, I guess. “Oh, please. The things that we’ve done together, the things we’ve done in each other’s presence and you’re worried about this? Whatever.” That makes him giggle. Robbie blows out a thick cloud of smoke, admires it, and then passes it back over to his boyfriend. 

“So what’s been goin’ on in your life, darlin’? I feel like you don’t even tell me anything anymore,” Dove pouts his pink bottom lip when he’s done talking. I pout my lip in mock sympathy and lean forward to give him a peck on the lips. At first, people thought it was odd that we kissed each other on the lips with him being gay. I just think it’s odd that they don’t kiss their gay best friend on the lips. “Ah, don’t feel bad, Dove. There really hasn’t been anything. Except for the fact that Renee found out about Dean,” I tell him. Dove and Robbie both gasp at that. “What happened?!” The smoke comes out of Robbie’s mouth all cool-like when he asks the question.

“I threatened her with the only thing I could,” I tell them and Dovett immediately knows what I mean. “You didn’t.” I shrug my shoulders and say, “I did. She thinks the world revolves around her and that I should kiss the ground she walks on. So, I did just that.”

Dove stares at me while he takes his hit the whole time without saying anything. “What’s this mysterious thing that you threatened her with?” Robbie asks totally clueless. “Something that is extremely personal and that she shouldn’t have even done,” Dove responds for me. I roll my eyes and blow the smoke in his direction. “She threatened me so I threatened her. If I didn’t tell her that, she would have ruined everything. I can see it now, Mavs Incorporated CEO Caught in Underage Scandal with Local Teenager. See, that’s scary, dude. Olivia Pope doesn’t live in our world.” Dove lets my words roll over in his head for a bit. 

“Makes sense to me. Seems like she did what she had to do,” Robbie says. I bump fists with him. Robbie’s all right with me. Dove rolls his eyes at the both of us as if we’re his kids and we just embarrassed him in front of his friends. “I guess, but it’s still kinda personal,” he reasons. I shrug my shoulders and get up and make my way to the kitchen. 

“Whatever. Problem solved. So what’s been going on with you two?” I ask while opening the refrigerator. I have to squint my eyes from the bright light, the bud is starting to kick in. Dove likes to date all his food containers so he knows how long everything’s been in there. It’s pretty smart but obsessive. Hell, it always helps me out. I pull out a jug of milk, a two-day old container of Chinese food, and get the package of Oreos from the cupboard. It sounds like a disgusting assortment of food, and that’s because it is, but I’m so fucking high, and so fucking hungry.

“I hope you’re in there getting food for all of us!” Dove sing-songs. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I toss the food into the microwave and lick the filling in between the Oreos while I watch the food spin inside. “But to answer your question, Robbie and I were thinking about moving in together!” Dove all but squeals. My eyes widen at the two of them. How long have they been together? “Really, are you two sure?” I ask. 

Dove leaps into Robbie’s lap and wraps his arms around his neck, smooshing their cheeks together. He looks so small wrapped around Robbie, but it’s adorable none the less. “Of course we are!” The microwave dings to let me know that the food is done. I tuck the package of Oreos into my arm and set the carton of Chinese food on top before grabbing the jug of milk and walking back into the living room. 

When I sit back down, Dove is still in Robbie’s lap and sucking face. Oh, Lord. “Are you two about to fuck? Because if you are, let me settle in first,” I say while stuffing my face with the fried rice. Robbie chuckles and breaks the kiss between the two. Dove grabs a few of the sandwiched cookies before settling back into his little spot. “I hope you move into this place, Robert. I can’t part with my second home!” I say dramatically. “You mean your third,” Dove mumbles under his breath. The brunette offers me a smile and says, “We were thinking about that anyway. My place is like a frat house.” 

“You know, I’m just surprised that we’re moving in together before you and Mr.Maverick,” Dove says. My eyes narrow on him with confusion. “Maybe because I’m still a minor and we’re not at that level in our relationship yet…?” I say. Robbie shrugs a shoulder in agreement. “Okay, well your birthday is in December, so there’s enough time for your relationship to blossom into a beautiful little tulip. But what if he asked you to move in with him in January, what would you do?” I roll my eyes at everything he just said. At him comparing my relationship to a damn tulip, and with him asking me that type of question. “We’ll deal with that when January comes, ‘kay?” I tell him. 

Dove lets out a small yawn, stretching out his arms. “Well can we deal with this sleep right now?” He asks, rubbing his eyes. Robbie and I stuff a few more Oreos in our mouth before putting all the food back in the fridge. 

Robbie, the kind gentleman that he is, lets Dove and I take the bed while he sleeps in the pink recliner in the corner. It’s really comfortable, so that may be one of the reasons he didn’t complain either. Every time me and the blonde sleep in the same bed, whether it be my bed or his, we always have to cuddle. We can’t help it, it just happens, no matter how hot it is. But thankfully it’s not too hot. The only thing that can be heard is the light snores coming from Robbie, and the whir from the air conditioning. Those two noises slowly lead me into my slumber.

Dean calls me the next morning asking me if I’m ready to come back to his place. But Dovett hears our conversation and asks, well I should actually say yell at him to come over for breakfast. 

I’m sitting on the countertop, literally in both of their ways as they get breakfast ready for all of us. But, they move around me almost effortlessly. They have the eggs and pancakes going when there’s a knock on the door. I hop off the counter to go get it. I open the door to see Dean wearing the same dark blue three-piece suit from last night with his hair disheveled. He has a sleepy smile that shows off those dimples that I love so much. He opens his arms for me to fall into them and I jump in his arms, wrapping my legs around him. He smells of alcohol and his cologne. “Morning, Tambryn,” he mumbles into my neck. 

“Let that beautiful man in here, Bryn! I don’t want my mooching neighbors to come moseying on in here like last time!” Dove yells from the kitchen. Dean backs up from my neck to smash our lips together before letting me down on my own two feet. Dean closes the door after himself and he follows me to the kitchen, not that it’s hard since the apartment isn’t that big. Dove brings Dean into a hug, kissing him on the cheek. I roll my eyes. And Robbie shakes hands with him. 

“Why are you wearing the same thing from last night?” I ask when he stands by me while I sit back on the counter. He shakes his head, rubbing his eyes. “Alex made me stay out the whole time with him and the girls. I haven’t even been home, yet.” “What did you guys do?” Dove asks as he starts to put food on plates. We help him get the food on the table as we talk. “I went on a double date with my friend and two pretty but unintelligent girls,” Dean says. “Sounds fun,” Robbie says with a smile as he hands Dean a cup of coffee. “Thanks.” “You used to do that with your friends when you were living that straight life, weren’t you?” I ask him. His only answer is a smile so bright you can hardly see his eyes. 

When we all have food on our plates, we sit down and dig in. Dove made my pancakes special (a bit of pancake batter in the middle) just the way I like them. “So what did you all do last night?” Dean asks with a mouth full of food. This is so unlike the Dean Maverick I usually see. I guess last night he only survived on alcohol. “We had a pretty chill night. Ate a weird assortment of food and smoked a joint,” Dove answers. Dean turns his head my way and says, “You smoke weed?” I hope he’s not one of those old people that frown upon young people for smoking weed. Because honestly, it’s really not that bad. “Yeah, sometimes,” I tell him. He nods his head and gets back to his food. 

“Do you?” Robbie asks him. “In the late seventies is when I started. I was like thirteen and thought I was cool, but then I started to really like it,” he explains. “Do you still?” Dove asks. He shrugs. “Eh, not recently,” then he turns to me. “You should’ve told me.” I snort. “Why, so we can smoke together?” He looks at me with a blank look and says, “If you want.” He just gets better and better.

“Thanks for the breakfast, you two. It was great,” Dean says as they walk us out. Dove pats him on the back with a smile. “No problem, Mr.Dean. I kinda owe you from making you pay last time. Dean shakes his head, “It was nothing, but thanks.” He opens the door to the Tesla for me and I hop in. “We should do a sleepover with all four of us the next time! We can smoke all the weed we can handle!” Dove exclaims. He gets excited too easily. But Dean gives him a smile before we drive away.

“So do you want me to drop you off at home?” He asks. I really don’t feel like it. “Nah, can we just go to your place?” He nods his head, looking a bit relieved that I didn’t say otherwise. “Of course.”

When we get through the threshold of the condo, Dean’s sleepiness immediately starts to show. I help him out of his blazer, high waist vest and lead him to his bedroom. Dean does the rest and strips out of his clothes until there’s nothing left but his wife beater and briefs. I never noticed how built he is until now. Even with the beater covering him, his abs still show through. And those grey briefs…man, don’t even get me started on ‘em. “Did you change in front of me on purpose? ‘Cuz you had to know that I was just gonna stare at your dick,” I tell while I climb in the bed after him. His voice is full of sleep when he chuckles. 

“Didn’t even think about your pervy eyes looking at me,” he mumbles into the pillow. My eyes widen at him. “Oh, I’m the perv? You put my private parts in your mouth in the least private places and I’m the alleged perv?” He smiles a toothy grin, eyes half way closed. “I guess you have a point, there.” I kiss him on the tip of his nose and say, “Get some sleep, old man, you need it.” And he does. 

When I wake up it’s dark outside, and Dean’s arm is wrapped around my waist, his breath ghosting over my neck. I slowly get from under his warm grasp and walk out the room where there’s a clock, because Dean has to be the oddest person on earth and not have a clock in his room. I could’ve sworn there was one a few weeks ago, though. God, how does he wake up on time in the morning? I look at the stove clock and it reads 7:28 at night. Over ten hours of sleep, Jesus. I open the fridge to start cooking something for the both of us. I think about calling my mom, but she’s not expecting me back until tomorrow. 

Just as I drop the pasta into the tomato soup is when Dean emerges from his cave. I feel him behind me before I see him. “What are you making?” He gruffs. Oh, my God. I swear on my life that a guy’s sleepy voice is the sexiest thing in the world. Almost as sexy as Dean’s beard. He should grow that back soon. “Creamy tortellini soup,” I answer. “Mmm, sounds good. Almost ready?” “Yep, get some bowls.” Dean gets down a couple of red glassed bowls and I start pouring the soup into them and drop a slice of French bread into each of them. 

“It’s official, you’re cooking the rest of my food,” Dean says, halfway through with his soup. “You want me to be your lil’ housewife? ‘Cuz I’m really not good at cleaning.” He offers me a smile and gets up to go get some more soup. “Then I’ll clean and you cook.” “Deal.” 

Dean and I are on the patio, it’s completely dark out and all that’s illuminating the city are the lights. The beautiful, beautiful lights. “So you won’t let me get a sip of wine?” I ask him while reaching out for the glass in his hand, but he’s holding it in the opposite direction so I can’t get to it. Douche bag. 

“Nope, not after last time,” he says, taking a sip of his red wine but gently pushing on my chest to keep me away. I sit back on his thighs and pout. “I was drinking unsupervised! Of fucking course I was gonna get drunk! But you’re here and you can control me,” I tell him. He taps my lips with his pointer finger and says, “You have a vulgar vocabulary, Tambryn.” I roll my eyes. “You’re just figuring this out, lemme get a sip, pwease?” He groans but gives the glass to me. I knew he couldn’t resist me. “You’re going to turn into an ‘alcoholic’ just like me,” he tsks. I give him back the empty glass. He looks at the glass and then at me, and then at me again, shaking his head. 

 

The next day at work, Alex and I are sitting at one of the many meeting tables at the office. Ever since I’ve been here, Alex hasn’t done not one thing that relates to work. 

“You really think that Nicki Minaj’s ass is fake?” Alex asks for the hundredth time, still disappointed as the first. “Uhh, yeah. It never moves!” I tell him. His eyes downcast and he shrugs his shoulders forlornly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. It was just my dream to just one day squeeze it…okay, maybe a few squeezes.” “I still wanna touch it, though,” I say. He breaks out into a bright smile. “Yeah, me too.” 

“Ya know what? I like havin’ ya here. No one likes to talk about the things that keep me up at night,” he tells me. I touch my heart at his words. “Aww, maybe because everyone here has a stick up their ass.” Alex gives a little chuckle. I look over at the elevators to see Dean and a few other people walking out of it. He catches sight of Alex and I and makes his way over to us. Dean claps his friend on the back and smiles at me. “What have you two been up to?” 

“Discussing very important topics that affects us today,” Alex answers. Dean nods his head. “So it wasn’t important?” I giggle. “Ya know what, Dean, I think girls with fake asses are a very important situation in our modern world. It’s false fucking advertising!” Alex exclaims while rising from his chair. Dean stares back at his friend with a small smile on his face. “Alex, there’s some bets going on in the lounge room. Greyson’s in HR again and they’re betting if he’s getting fired or not,” he tells him. Alex looks at me and lets out a sigh. “There’s a reason why I’m banned from Monte Carlo. See ya!” And then he’s gone. 

Dean turns to me with a smile and nods in the direction of his office. “Come on, I have some work for you to do.” I follow him in and there are a few thick folders on his desk. I groan. “Aw man, I gotta do real work?” I ask him. Dean shrugs his shoulders in sympathy. “Afraid so. Not much, though. I piled way more work on my last assistant, so you get off easy,” he explains. I walk over to him and stand on my tip-toes. I’m leveled to his throat now instead of his chest. “And why’s that?” I ask while staring up at him. 

The warm smile on his face shows off his deep dimples. “Well she was more qualified than you.” The smile drops from my face and I land back on my heels, stepping away. Dean chuckles, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me closer to him. “I’m joking, Tambryn. My last assistant wasn’t my princess, that’s why,” he says against the side of my throat, his words vibrating into my body. I grab onto his biceps to pull him away from my neck, but all I do is just keep squeezing his arms, enjoying the hard muscle there. “So it pays to date your boss?” I ask him when he finally looks at me. “In your case…I guess it does.” 

I get back on my tip-toes and he leans down to smash our lips together. When it starts to get intense, just starts to get good, Dean breaks the kiss. But I’m not ready so I hop and wrap my legs around his waist, pushing his mouth back onto mine. He walks us over to his desk, setting me on top of it. He plants his hands on either side of his desk by my hips, giving himself some leverage get his lips away from mine. “We should stop,” Dean says. “When do you ever wanna stop?” I ask him before pulling him forward, crashing our lips back together. Dean moans into my mouth, his hands running up my thighs, making my skirt bunch up at my hips. When he gets to the hem of my panties, Dean stops himself by squeezing my thighs, making it hurt so good. The surge of pain and pleasure makes me breathe a sigh into his mouth. “Tambryn, stop.” “Why?” I whine, scooting to the edge so my cooch meets his hardening length.

“That’s why! Tambryn I refuse to get a hard-on while at work.” I let out a sigh and let him go. “You ate me out on your desk and you’re worried about popping a boner?” He wipes around his mouth, looking at me. “I didn’t know I had to explain this to you, but it’s more noticeable to see if a man is aroused more than it is to notice that a woman is aroused.” I raise my hand and my middle finger lands smack dab in the middle of Dean’s face. “If you would let me, I could deal with it before anyone sees. But I guess you think I’d break your dick or something,” I tell him. Dean grabs the files and walks out to my desk. “How aggressive you are, I wouldn’t put it past you,” he mumbles. I hop off the desk and follow him. “Are we-are we bickering? Ugh we’re bickering like we’re an old married couple. Well, like I’m old.” 

Dean smiles while shaking his head. “I just need you to file these new clients into the system and then you’re done for today. Think you can do that?” He asks. I look down at the files and nod my head. “Yeah, I can do that.” Dean gives me a peck on the cheek before walking back into his office. 

As I get through the hundreds and hundreds of expensive names on the list, there’s a name that sticks out more than any of the others: Clark Truman. My fingers stop flying across the keyboard and I just stare at the name. But anyone can have that name, right? The only Clark Truman I’ve encountered was my dad and I haven’t seen him in over ten years. I mean, there’s someone in New York with my exact first and last name, so this could be another Clark Truman, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna skip ahead in the next chapter. School's going to be back in and it'll be about October or November. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!


	19. Dean Comes Over

I hate the smell of pumpkin. But around this time, that’s all you can smell. Especially when Lily’s in love with pumpkin spice everything. Right now, she’s sippin’ on some pumpkin spiced latte. “Lily, if you pick up one more thing infused with pumpkin, I’m puttin’ the paws on you. And you know it’s serious when I use the word ‘infused’,” Benny says as we walk down State Street. Lily turns and blows the hot latte his way, making all that pumpkin smell go his way. Benny just glares and looks away. 

It’s always crowded Downtown, but now that Christmas is next month, everyone’s getting their gifts early. Well, except for us. We’re just here because we had nothing better to do. “What do you think Dean’s getting you for Christmas?” Lily asks. “Fuck that. What is he getting you for your birthday?” Benny asks. In the past, it’s always sucked having a birthday so close to Christmas because you don’t get twice as many presents as you would think. No, I either get my gifts on my birthday or all on Christmas. I’m disappointed every year. I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it. We can’t do anything on Christmas ‘cuz I’m gonna be at home and Dean’s gonna be with his family. So I guess I’ll find out in a few weeks,” I tell them both. 

My birthday’s the nineteenth of December and that’s when we planned everything. I haven’t told anyone about me and Dean’s plan for my birthday. Even though he hasn’t told me what he’s getting me, we know about the other things for that night. But since I like you guys, I’ll tell you about the day we sat down and planned everything…

…We’re at his house, in his bed with me sitting in his lap. “The only reason we haven’t had sex yet is because I want you to be an adult when we do it,” Dean says as he runs his hands up and down my thighs. I roll my eyes and say, “I don’t see why when you’ve eaten me out like a billion times.” “Even though you don’t think so, that’s different. You still have your hymen, don’t you?” Ah, I guess he’s right. But I don’t answer him. “I want it to be something that we can look forward to, you know?” I shrug my shoulders. “I guess so,” I mumble. 

“Now, since that day is going to be all about you, how would you like to do it?” He asks. Ugh, I’m so naïve; I don’t even know what he means. “What are you talking about?” his eyes slide down; he’s trying to pick his words. “Would you like to do it with a condom, or no? Because I can pay for your birth control if you’re not on it.” Ohh, that’s what he means. “Well, I’m already on birth control,” Dean looks curious. “I take it to regulate periods and stuff,” he nods his head, understanding now. “Does it feel better without a condom or something?” I ask him.

Dean fidgets in his bed, moving me in the process. “To be honest, it feels so much better. But it’s your choice. Whatever you choose, I’ll be happy with,” he explains. Since I’m already on the pill, there’s really not that much to worry about. “I guess we can do it bare, then.” Dean looks relieved with my choice. “Oh, thank God. Condoms aren’t the most comfortable thing in the world for me.” I lean forward so our lips are centimeters apart from each other. “You gonna be careful with me?” I ask him while cupping him through his boxers. He takes in a deep breath because of it. “You’re my princess, of course you’re going to be treated with respect,” Dean says before leaning forward and giving me a kiss…

“So what are you two getting for my birthday?” I ask my friends. “Me,” Benny says as he wiggles his eyebrows. I roll my eyes, dropping the smile. “It’s not a surprise if I tell you, now is it?” Lily says in her clever voice (so she thinks). I shrug my shoulders, I guess you’re right. “Well, I’m hungry. Ya think they’re done cookin’?” Benny asks. All of our moms are cooking together at our house; my mom has the best appliances for Thanksgiving. They kicked us all out, including Renee, ‘cuz, well we have a tendency to eat the food before all of it is ready. It’s happened before. I look down at my phone to see that it’s a little bit after four and that Dean called me about ten minutes ago. 

“They’re probably setting the table right now,” I tell them. We climb up the steps to the nearest train station to head back home. I’ll just call him later.

“You guys must’ve smelled the food miles away, huh?” Lily’s mother, Karen, says from the dining room. “Oh, so y’all were gonna start without us?” Benny asks while taking off his jacket and hanging it on one of the hooks. Lily and I follow suit before pushing our way to the powder room to wash our hands before one of our moms yell at us for not doing it. 

“Everything’s set! Come eat, people!” My mom yells for us. We literally race for a spot at the table; Lily pushing her dad out the way in the process. We have a habit of not eating the whole day of a holiday to save our appetites. We get a bit animalistic to say the least. 

“It’s absolutely disgusting watching you guys eat,” Renee says from across the table. I chew exceptionally loud just for her and say, “Then why watch?” She rolls her eyes and gets back to her mashed potatoes. “We won’t even go around and say what we’re most grateful for?” Benny’s mom, Lourdes, asks with her mouth stuffed with food. “We’re not on a sitcom, Lourdes, we’ll do that some other time,” Mom answers. Oh Lord, we’re totally ignoring the whole purpose of this holiday. But like she said, we’ll name off our blessings some other time. 

Some time later, the three of us end up in my room, just stuffing our faces with sweet potato pie, even though we’ve been full for some time now. But hey, it’s a holiday. The only time it’s acceptable to kill yourself by overeating. When I finish my pie with ice cream, I call Dean back. “Callin’ the hubby?” Benny asks. I nod my head. 

“Hi, Prancer,” Dean says. A smile is on my face instantly. “Hey Dean, you know that every time you two talk, Bryn gets this cheesy ass smile on her face?! It’s nauseating,” Benny yells into my phone’s receiver. I push him away and then Lily’s right by me. Oh gawd. “Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. Dean!” She exclaims. I can hear Dean chuckling through the phone. I push Lily away by her forehead before getting out of MY bed and walking into the closet and shutting the door behind me. “Ahh, don’t be like that, Bryn!” Benny yells from the other side. 

I sit down in my closet to get comfortable. “Sorry about them,” I tell Dean. He laughs a bit more before saying anything. “Oh, it’s fine. I’m used to their antics by now…So do you crack a smile every time we talk on the phone?” He asks. Ugh, I roll my eyes. “What if I said yes?” “I’d wonder how you can get anymore adorable.” Oh, there goes that smile. “So what are you up to?” I ask him. I can hear dishes and voices in the far away background. “Oh, I’m just at my sister’s house with some family. What about you?” 

Throughout the piles of clothes on the floor, one of Dean’s ties comes up from the pile. It’s a deep forest green color made out of silk. I loved the color, so I just took it. I don’t know if he noticed or not. I run my hand over it before answering. “My mom and my friends’ moms came over today. All the mothers just cooking all day while we just hung out. We just got done smashing everything in sight.” Dean lets out a chuckle at that. “I bet you did.” “How long are you gonna be at your sister's?” I ask him. “Um, I'm going to be here for awhile, why?” I shrug, even though he can’t see. “I dunno. I wanna see you. Ya miss me?” “Of course I miss you. But I can’t come back tonight, sorry, princess.” 

“Deanie, who are you on the phone with?! They couldn’t be that important since they’re not here!” A female voice booms from the other end. “Trust me, this person is very important, Denise.” My heart flutters from his words. Must be one of his sisters for her to call him ‘Deanie’. “Then why didn’t ya bring this ‘important’ person?” The voice gets closer. He lets out a breath. “Because she has family, too.” “Ohh, so it’s a girl?” There’s some muffling on the other end before the line is clear again. “Wait Denise, no!” Dean sounds far away now. “Hello? What’s the name of my baby brother’s girlfriend?” Denise asks. My eyes widen. 

“Denise, how old are you?! Give me my phone back!” “Hello? Or is it a cover? Are you my baby brother’s…boyfriend?” “No!” I squeal. “Ah, so it is a girl!” Before she can say anything else, there’s some more muffling on the other end before Dean has his phone back. “Sorry about that, Denise still thinks I’m five years old,” he snorts. All that can be heard is his sister’s laughter. I let out a little giggle. I like her. “But anyway, why can’t I see you tonight?” I ask him, getting back to the subject. Dean lets out a sigh. “I’m in Wisconsin right now. So it’ll be hours until I’m back. Plus, they’re already expecting me to stay here overnight.” 

I thunk my head back on the closet wall. “Ugh, okay then. I’ll stay here and get myself fat for you.” That makes him laugh. “You do that. Can you come over to my house later this week?” He asks. An idea pops into my head then. “What about you come over to my house. You’ve never been inside.” There’s silence on the other end for a bit. “I’m not sneaking in to your house like I’m some teenage boy, Tambryn,” he finally says. I roll my eyes. “My mom has two events in Southern Illinois Saturday and Renee’s going to her friend’s house tomorrow and won’t be back until Monday. Not even the mail man will be here then,” I tell him. 

There’s more silence on the other end as he rolls my words over in his head. “Saturday?” He asks. “Saturday,” I confirm. “Yes, okay. I can do Saturday. Listen, I have to go, princess. My sisters are bringing in my daughter to get me out of here.” I smile. “Okay then. Talk to you later.” “All right, love you,” and then the line goes dead. Like last month on Halloween, Dean admitted his love for me. The oddest day to admit something like that, right? But hey, neither of us have great timing obviously. But, after I explained how I felt about him, it was settled that I loved him, too. Lord, do things move fast. I get up from my little comfy spot and exit the closet. 

Lily and Benny are on my bed, thumb wrestling. Of course they are. “So how did the phone sex thing work out?” Lily lifts her head before going back to the intense wrestling. I hop onto my bed, throwing both of them off their game. They both send me a glare before getting back to their game. “If you must know, Dean’s comin’ over Saturday,” I tell them. They nod their heads in acknowledgement. 

“Oh, so are you gonna give me my money today or what?” Benny asks. I roll my eyes. “That doesn’t mean I’m gonna fuck him, Benito.” “Yeah, yeah, if you say so.” Humph, with what Dean and I have planned for next month, I’m definitely not losing this bet.

 

I’m at Dove’s place, doing some Black Friday shopping online. Shit, I may be crazy. But I’m not crazy enough to go Downtown when everyone and their mother is down there. 

“What do you think he’ll like?” Dove asks. We’ve been trying to figure this out now for a good half hour. I shake my head, totally lost on what to get him. “I don’t know, dude. I mean, what do you get the man who has everything already?” I say. My friend nods his head in agreement. Robbie’s lying out across the blue loveseat in the corner. The laptop that’s perched on his abs is moving from his laughter. “You just said it, Bryn,” he mumbles.

My eyes narrow on the bulk of muscle in the corner. “What do you mean?” I ask him. He moves his laptop next to him as he sits up to look right at me. “What he wants isn’t as expensive as you think. Hell, it may not even cost you anything. He’s bought everything he will ever want or need…as much as he knows.” I let his words sink in for a bit. “Sooo, do I make him something?” I ask him. Robbie just shrugs and gets back to his laptop. 

“And if Robbie’s wise words fly over your head, you can always just give him a holiday blowjob. Best back-up plan ever,” Dove says with a smile. “I’ll take that,” Robbie yells while raising his hand. I giggle at my friend and it finally dawns on me the perfect gift. It’s not for anyone else, just for us. Just for him. 

 

The next day, Dean shows up at my door at around three in the afternoon. I pull him fully into the house, making sure there aren’t any nosey old ladies peaking out their windows. When I turn back around, Dean’s taking in his surroundings, making his way into the living room. “It’s not as grand as your house, but…” I trail off as I come up from behind him while he looks at all the pictures surrounding the entertainment center. He stands up fully so now he’s towering over me. I wrap my arms around his waist as he cups my face with his big warm hands. He hasn’t even gotten out of his long black trench coat yet. “It doesn’t need to be. I like it. It’s a change,” he says before leaning down to ghost his lips over mine, barely touching. 

I love and hate it when he does this. I bounce onto my tip toes to get his lips fully on mine. Dean can’t last long through a kiss without diving his tongue into my mouth, but it’s no problem. I back away from his lips to point to the couch. “Sit, sit,” I command. Dean makes quick work of taking off his coat before plopping down on the couch, a slight bulge forming in his pants already. The wind can set off this dude, I swear. 

I straddle his lap and immediately get pulled further up his thighs from his grip on my hips. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me, crashing our lips back together. His grip gets tighter on my hips the more aroused he gets. I suck his bottom lip into my mouth, making him groan. After a few seconds, I let his lip pop out from my mouth, loving the slick sound that comes from it. “You’re a little freak,” Dean smiles at me. I grind down on his ever growing erection, his eyes closing because of it. “Yeah, and I’m the freak,” I say. Those clear blue eyes stare back up at me with a smirk. 

“It’s not my fault that you turn me on so easily,” he defends. I smile and let my hands slowly descend downwards. Dean’s head falls back on the couch with a loud groan. “Baby, please. You make this so hard,” he says. “I make what so hard? Your dick? I know.” I unbuckle his belt and slide his zipper down to the hilt. “No! Well, that too. But this whole deal of waiting until your birthday is beginning to be impossible.” Before I can reach into his tight black boxer briefs, Dean snatches my hand away. 

“What the hell, Dean? That’s not fair, you get to do whatever you want with my private parts, but I can’t even touch yours. Whyyy?” I know, I know, I’m whining. But can you blame me? I’m a hormonal teenager. Dean runs his hand over his face before asking, “What do you want to do with it exactly?” I give him a smile before sliding from his lap and onto the rug, my knees right by his shiny black shoes. Dean’s eyes widen, getting the idea. “Absolutely not.” I roll my eyes at him. “And when do you think you’ll let me, sir?” He shrugs his shoulders. “I’ll teach you how to do it soon.” Whatever, the moment’s gone. I get up on my own two feet and reach my hand out for him. “Come on, I wanna show you my room.” Dean buckles his pants back up before taking my hand in his.

Dean lets go of my hand and walks ahead of me into my room, looking around the space. I sit on my bed until he’s done with his self tour. Dean picks up the knick knacks on my desk, one of them being the Cher bobble head. He holds it up in question with a smirk. I smile at it. “That was a present from Dove a few years back,” I tell him. He nods his head, setting it back down. “Of course.” He makes his way to my closet, disappearing inside. 

“I buy you clothes as if you don’t have anything to wear ever. You have more clothes than me, Tambryn,” he says. “I’m also a girl, and you wear suits all damn day. How many suits do you need exactly?” Dean walks out the closet and says, “I’m not wearing a suit now, see!” He says while giving me an odd little twirl. He’s wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a grey Henley. I nod my head and he takes that as his cue to go back in my closet. “Whatever, you do offer to buy it. I just take advantage of the opportunity,” I tell him. 

“Hmm, well I guess you’re right. Wait…” His words trail off as he walks back out with the silk green tie in his hand. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for this, Tambryn? A long time, that’s how long,” he says while walking over to me. I try to hide myself behind my hands. Ugh, he wasn’t supposed to find that. I hear Dean chuckle before removing my hands so he can look me in the eye. 

“It’s okay, princess. Nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s yours, you can keep it,” he says, placing the tie on the nightstand. I open my legs and Dean slides between them like always and lays his chin on my chest. “You don’t want it back?” A small smirk is on his face as he shakes his head. “No, it’s yours. Why that one? I would think you’d take one of the purple ones.” I shrug my shoulders. “This might sound mean, but I know it was one of your favorites, and because of that it reminded me of you, so I wanted it,” I tell him. He leans up to give me a quick kiss before saying, “I love that.” 

I give him a smile and run my hand over his cheek. “Deanie, you said that you were gonna grow back your beard and you haven’t,” I whine. I whine a lot around him. “Starting now, I’ll grow it back just for you. Promise.” “I can talk you into almost anything, can’t I?” He chuckles. “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in a writing mood, so don't be surprise if I post another chapter later on today.


	20. Cherry Picker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment we've all been waiting for. Well, the moment I've been waiting for at least...

“Happy Birfday!” I sit up in my bed to find Mom standing with balloons in the shape of the number 18, Lily straddling my legs, Dove at the edge waving ecstatically, and with Benny standing up on my bed, right in my face. Ah, I didn’t expect that little runt of a sister to get up anyway. 

I let them sing their crappy version of ‘Happy Birthday” before they let me get up to pee. “Meet us in the kitchen, baby!” I gruff before closing the door and doing my business. Out of habit, I brought my phone in the bathroom with me. And good that I did because it starts to ring. I look at the Caller ID to see that it’s Dean. A smile is on my face immediately and I haven’t even heard his voice yet. 

“Hello?” I answer. “Happy birthday, princess!” He says from over the phone. I put my hand over my mouth to cover up the giggle, but it does nothing. “Thank you, Deanie,” “No problem. I was going to call you earlier, but Dove said you weren’t up yet.” “Yeah, they just woke me up right now singing their ghetto ass version of ‘Happy Birthday’. I loved it, though.” I flush the toilet, knowing he can hear it by the chuckle he gives me. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your birthday morning. I’ll see you later, I have a big surprise for you,” he says. I wash my hands and say, “Your dick?!” 

“…You think that’s your present?” “I dunno, could be.” “I’m not counting a body part as your gift, Tambryn. Well, gifts.” My eyes widen, “There’s more than one?!” Oh, Lord. “Yep. I got you a variety of things that I thought you’d like, hopefully you do.” I snort. “Psh, whatever you’ve gotten me, I bet I’ll love.” “Heh, I hope so. But talk to you later, okay?” “Alright, love you,” I tell him. “Love you, too.”

I walk down to the kitchen to see everyone surrounding the mobile island, watching my mom plate the food. Everyone gets pancakes, bacon, and eggs. But since I’m the birthday girl, I get pancakes doused with powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream and chopped up bacon on top. She started letting us have that like five years ago. But only on our birthday because she doesn’t want our teeth to rot. I’ve been craving this all damn year. I take a seat in the dining room while Dovett puts the two candles with an 18 on it on top of the pancakes. Before delivering it to me. 

“Now, Ms. Caverly, you know my birthday is comin’ up soon, right?” Benny asks. Everyone sits down and my mom stares at him, amused. “Yeah, I’ll make you one, Benny.” He pumps his fist in the air. I blow out the candles before digging in. It’s as delicious as I remembered from last year, but it has a better taste. It may be that extra ingredient called 18. “Can you eat and open up presents?” Dove asks all antsy. I look at my mom, pleading. She huffs but gives in. Both of the blondes go run into the living room to go get the gifts while Benny stays back to sneak scoops of my ice cream. I slap his hand when he comes back for the third time. 

Lily gets to me first with a bright colored wrapped something. I rip it open to find a black cap with the words “I’m fucking 18” sprawled on the top in pink. It makes me smile but I can see my mom shaking her head in my peripheral. I flop it out to put it on my head and a twenty dollar bill pops out. “A lil’ somethin’ extra for my main girl,” Lily says with a bright smile. I give her a hug and thank her. Dove moves forward and hands me his gift. I unwrap it to see a ticket to that gay club I’ve been wanting to go to in Boystown, but was always too young to go to. My eyes widen and I hop into his arms. “Omigod! Dude, you’re lyin’!” I yell. He backs away to say, “My ticket is at home. Those tickets are good for all of next year.” “My snookums.” And it makes him giggle as always. 

Next up is Benny who seems to grab his gift from out of thin air because it just appeared. That’s when Renee decides to grace us with her presence. “Umm, don’t you have something to say to your sister?” Mom yells into the kitchen. We all hear her groan. She takes her time coming out with her plate of food. “Happy birthday…” That was the lamest ‘happy birthday’ I have ever heard. I give her a nod and get back to unwrapping Benny’s present. I should have expected it since what I got him for his birthday. It’s a mug that says, ‘I heart Farting’, on it. 

I giggle and tell him, “I’m gonna make a habit of drinking coffee every morning just to drink out of this.” He cracks a toothy grin at that. Mom soon slides her gift across the table and it’s a birthday card. I open it to find a hundred dollar bill in it. I run over to her to wrap my arms around her. I love the gift, because I know that she saved up just to give me that, but since I’ve been with Dean, receiving money doesn’t give me the buzz like it used to. I guess since he pays for everything now. 

“Ah, thanks you guys. I started the day off right,” I tell them all (except for Renee, who didn’t help at all). I give them all big bear hugs before getting back to my pancakes and ice cream before it melts. 

The four of us (Dove, Benny, Lily, and me) are in my room, waiting for one o’clock to come around so Dovett can drop me off at Dean’s. “Are you fucking kidding me?! I owe you three hundred bucks?!” Benny exclaims. Dove and I have satisfied grins on our faces. He’s the only one that knew about me and Dean’s little plan. “Yep,” I say. “That’s not fair!” “Why? Because you didn’t win?” Lily asks. He gives her the finger. “You better figure out how you’re gonna be getting my money, Benito. Those new pair of J’s are comin’ out soon,” I say. He scoffs, flopping back onto the beanbag chair. 

“Ya know, you’re cute when you’re mad,” Dove flirts. Benny’s angered face turns into pure fear. “No, I’m not,” he says quickly. Dovett sits back on the bed, laughing to himself. “Well, it’s about that time to go become a woman,” Lily says while looking at my bedside clock. Yep, it is. “Just remember to breathe a lot, makes the muscles relax,” Lily says as we all walk down the steps. 

“And lube! I can’t stress that word enough, Bryn. Use so much lube that both of you are soaking in it,” Dove says in a hushed tone. My mom hugs me one more time before we head out, telling us to have a great time. “Oh we will, Ms. Caverly! Definitely our Tambryn here,” Lily calls over her shoulder. I hate them all.

When we arrive in front of Dean’s building, that’s when it all hits me. Those pancakes with ice cream don’t seem like such a good idea anymore. Oh Lord. “Bryn, are you okay, honey?” Dove asks. His question makes Benny and Lily poke their heads over the front seat. I wave at them dismissively. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s okay to feel nervous, right?” I ask them. They all nod their heads. “But you know you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. It’s not like the ACT’s,” Lily says. They all nod their head, agreeing. I look toward the building and open the car door. “Okay then. See ya guys,” I say while getting out. “Call us if you need anything. And don’t forget to have a great time!” One of them, I don’t know which one screams from out the window before they drive off, leaving behind flurries of snow that got kicked up. I take one last look at the building before walking in. 

Dean opens the door with a cookie cake in hand with ‘Happy Birthday, Prancer!’ scrawled in purple frosting across it. I smile at it as he makes room for me to come in. Dean sets the cake down to take my coat. “I’ve never had a cookie cake before,” I tell him while I stare at it a bit more. “Really? You look like a girl that would love a cake made out of cookie,” he says after hanging my coat up in the hall closet. I shrug. Dean picks the cake back up and settles it on the granite top island. 

“Want a piece? Are you hungry?” He asks. I shake my head at both. He nods before pointing to the living room where boxes and boxes with brand names on them. Whoa. I make my way to the couch and just break open as much stuff as I can. He bought me expensive fragrances, designer jeans, cashmere sweaters, cashmere cardigans, cashmere anything else you can think of, Louboutin spiked red bottom flats (Freddy Flats, they’re called), about four Nina Ricci flounce dresses, and the rest is just an expensive blur. 

“Do you like it?” Dean whispers from the breakfast bar. He looks fidgety. I walk over to him and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in. “I love it. Love it all! Thank you, Dean,” I tell him between kisses. That makes him loosen up a bit. “I was hoping you would. Here,” he hands me a shiny black box. I look up at him and his eyes widen. “No, it’s not that. Just open it.” I do as he says and what sits inside is a platinum Rolex set in diamonds. I remember that Dean has one just like this. Oh, God. He got us matching Rolexes. It takes my breath away. “This thing is worth more than me,” I mumble. He chuckles and says, “Lying on your birthday, Tambryn? Look on the underside.” I gingerly remove the watch from the box to look on the other side. It has my name sprawled out in elegant cursive. I look up at him and then down at the watch in complete awe of this whole situation. 

He takes the watch from me, and puts it on the bar behind him. “I have one more surprise for you, but it can wait til later,” Dean says while taking my hand, leading me in the direction of the bedroom. My heartbeat starts to race again. “Man, now I’m gonna be wondering what this big surprise is the whole damn day!” I pout. Dean turns around with a smile on his lips. “I promise you won’t be doing that much thinking once we get started anyway.” My breath catches in my throat. 

The floor-to-ceiling window is covered by the giant velvet black out curtains covering them. The room is lit just by a few candles scattered around the room. I thought candles were cheesy for any occasion, but they’re perfect for this one. “I uhh, wanted to get you as relaxed as possible. I read that too many lights can be intimidating,” He says awkwardly. I crack a smile at that. “Deanie, did you do research?” He shrugs his shoulders, completely blushing. “I’ve never been with a virgin, so I wanted to make it special,” he mumbles under his breath. Aww, he did all of this just for me? 

“It’s perfect, Dean.” He sets me on top of the bed with my legs hanging off the edge and with him standing between them. He closes the distance between us and captures my lips with his. It’s slower than anything we’ve ever done, but it’s nice nonetheless. His fingers climb up to unbutton my red plaid shirt, and it’s getting realer by the second. Once my shirt is fully unbuttoned, Dean slides the material from my shoulders and tosses it somewhere I don’t care about. I lean back to tug at the hem of his white t-shirt. He gets the hint and raises his arms up so I can take it off of him. Wow, I didn’t know that old dudes had six-pack abs. 

Dean bends down to take off my socks one by one before taking off his pants. He helps me out of my jeans and all that I’m left in is my bra and panties, not matching by the way. Dean gently pushes me back on the bed while he climbs on top. He bends down, making our lips meet again. He dips his tongue in my mouth while his warm hands slide down to the hem of my panties. Our lips disconnect so he can take my undergarments off fully. A funny thought comes to mind then. “Heh, wouldn’t it suck if I got my period?” Dean gives me a weak smile and says, “Please don’t talk about your period right now, Prancer.” I nod my head, shutting up. 

 

Even with my last comment, I can see the bulge in his gray briefs growing. He squeezes it a bit before unhooking the latch on my bra from the front. Yeah, this is definitely not his first rodeo. I’ve never been topless in front of him, so he just takes a minute to stare. “I knew they were big, but they look bigger bare,” Dean says, cupping my boobs. They all of a sudden look small in his big hands. Shouldn’t be a surprise since he always makes me feel so small. He flicks his thumb over my nipple, making me jump a little. His eyes flicker up to mine with a slight smile on his face. He removes his hands from me all together to get rid of his boxer briefs. 

My jaw drops. It drops just like in the cartoons. He’s hung, like really hung. I mean, I knew he was gonna be big, but I didn’t expect this big. “That’s supposed to go inside of me?” I whisper in a panicked voice. He chuckles and says, “That was the plan.” I reach a hand out to touch, but then bring my hand back to my side. Dean grabs my hand and says, “You can touch anything you want,” before placing it on his length. I wrap my hand around it, fingertips not even touching each other because he’s so thick. I move my hand up and down, making him groan and making the foreskin move over the head. It’s mesmerizing to watch. 

After awhile, Dean backs away from my hand and sits back on his haunches. “Don’t want to come from a dry hand job,” he explains. “Are you- are you about to fuck me?” I ask a bit scared. He shakes his head no before laying on his stomach on the bed and his head between my legs. “Having an orgasm will loosen up your kegal muscles, making it less painful when we do have sex,” he explains. “But I thought you shouldn’t loosen your kegal muscles, so you can stay tight,” I say. The breath that he breathes out spreads across my cooch, making me shiver. “Not in your case. You being a virgin, you’re already tight as it is.” 

That’s the last thing any of us say before I feel his wet warm tongue lick his way up my slit and then flicking it over my clit, just the way I like it. As much as I would love to look, holding my head up is becoming a bothersome chore, so I lay back on the fluffy pillows and just feel. Dean’s thumb and pointer finger opens my lips up so he can dive his tongue right in. My back arches involuntarily from the feeling of it. Every few licks inside, Dean will kiss it, making himself moan. He really does enjoy doing this. As the feeling heightens, my hand slides down so it gets lost in his soft locks. And since he knows my body so well, Dean begins lapping at my clit relentlessly. My breathing gets harsher and soon…I’m there. That burst of warmth spreads throughout my body and down to my toes. He wraps his arms around my thighs so I won’t crush his head and he can keep sucking on me. Sounds that I didn’t even know I could make keep spilling from my mouth. 

When I calm down, Dean lets go of my legs and comes up for a kiss. The bottom half of his face is dripping with a mixture of my juices and his saliva. But neither of us seem to care. “I hope you can make those same sounds when I get inside of you,” he mutters against my lips as he grabs for something on his nightstand. I look over to see him grasping a bottle of lube. And the good kind, not even opened. Dean sits back on his haunches again while he pops open the cap. He squirts a healthy amount in his hands and strokes himself, spreading it along his length. “Open your legs wider,” he commands. I plant my feet on either side of him, giving him the perfect view. Dean strokes himself a little bit longer while staring at my privates. 

Dean squirts a bit more lube on his finger and laves that on the inside of my walls. He then tosses the bottle of lube to the edge of the bed, looks at it, then uncaps it to slather more lube on his length before he’s done with it for good. He gives me a brief smile, leaning most of his weight on his forearm while the other hand is guiding him to my entrance. He stops moving before he penetrates to look up at me. “Ready?” He asks. I take in a deep breath and nod my head. “It’s going to hurt a little, sorry in advance,” and then he’s pushing in. My toes curl from the burning pain. I let out a few short breaths, trying to get my breathing under control. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” I whine. Dean buries his face into my neck, sucking on the skin there. That makes me forget about some of the pain, thankfully. When he gets halfway in, that’s when the hand that was guiding himself into me comes up to grip the sheets, twisting them furiously. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Tambryn. I’m almost all the way in,” he moans. I try to listen to his voice, think about how good I’m making him feel, anything to get my mind off of this pain. When he’s finally all the way in, Dean groans in pleasure while I groan at how full I am. He puts all of his weight on both of his forearms and looks right at me with hazy eyes. “You tell me when I can move, ‘kay?” I nod my head just trying to focus on breathing, just like Lily had told me. 

Dean kisses my neck soothingly, waiting on me like the gentleman he is. “You can- you can move now,” I whisper. He stops the kisses to look me in the eye. “Okay.” Dean slowly slides out of me, then dives back in. A whimper escapes my lips before I can stop it. Dean stops moving and looks at me with worry in his eyes. “You okay, baby? Do you want me to stop?” I shake my head. “No, keep going. Don’t stop until I tell you to.” He thinks about it for a second before I feel him slide out of me again, before pushing back in. He sets my hands on the middle of his smooth back and says, “Feel free to scratch me. It’s not fair for you to be the only one in pain.” 

He starts up the slow roll of his hips again and I do as he told me and drag my fingernails down his back. Dean lets out another sound that comes deep within his throat. I look up at him to see his bottom lip between his teeth and his damp hair dropping in front of his eyes. The burning sensation starts to wear off and now it only feels as if I’m being stretched. Not the best feeling, but it’s way better than that pain from before. I wrap my arm around his neck while the other hand stays on his back. He leans down to press his lips to mine as he slowly picks up the pace. The pace change surprises me and I subconsciously tighten around him. Dean opens his mouth to let out a moan.

“Fuck you’re tight, princess. So fucking tight,” he moans. My eyes widen. Dean cursed! Twice! So he only says bad words during throes of passion? That’s kinda hot. “Mind if I speed up?” He asks, but he already sped up without my answer. Dean takes hold of my hip with one hand while the other reaches up and grabs onto the wall mounted headboard. Just by him doing that, it pushes him in a different angle. I place my leg over his shoulder, making us both groan from pleasure. He dives in deeper and he hits a place inside of me that feels like heaven. 

“You don’t know how fucking good you feel. So tight, just milking me. Shit,” Dean groans. Holding himself up begins to be too much of a task for him, so he goes back to leaning on his forearms…my leg still on his shoulder. I knew all those years of dance were gonna be good for something. Endless flexibility. I turn my head over to the candle on the nightstand. It’s about a third of the way melted which means we’ve been at it for awhile. 

Dean soon loses his perfect rhythm and begins to just slam into me hard and deep. I have to place a hand on the headboard to keep myself from smashing my head in. His breath ghosts from my neck and up to my face. He has a desperate look in his eye. “Can I c-come inside of you?” He begs. Dean looks like a shy little puppy, I can’t help but say yes. Dean gives a few more snaps of his hips before he buries himself inside of me. A guttural groan that seems to last forever leaves Dean’s throat and then I feel it. I feel a hot sticky liquid rushing into me in spurts. Dean leans down and kisses me, the sloppiest kiss ever because he’s still coming, and I can feel a new load flowing into me. My toes curl at the fullness of it all. 

It begins to be too much for my body and some just starts to slide out from when he lazily thrusts in and out. “Oh my God,” I mumble. He lifts up to look at me with a sated grin. “I know, I know. It’s a lot.” “Uhh, yeah.” Dean balances himself on his knees while he slowly pulls out of me, moaning all the way. 

When he’s out, the cum starts rushing out, too, and all over his soft white sheets. “I’m sorry,” I say while closing my legs to keep anymore from sliding out. Dean shakes his head and says, “No need to be sorry. I knew that was going to happen anyway.” Dean picks me up bridal style and walks over to the far wall, and presses it in. Wait…this guy has a secret lair? The wall opens up to reveal an en suite bathroom. “Since when?!” I yell in surprise. 

“Since forever, you’re just the first person to see it,” he says while walking us over to the vanity sink. “Squat over the sink,” he tells me. What? I do what he says anyway and plant my feet on either side of the sink. Dean wraps an arm around my midsection to keep me balanced, while his other arm comes around and two of his fingers dive inside of me. I let out a gasp as I watch him finger me, cum oozing out of me and into the sink. “I’m surprised you don’t have more kids,” I mumble. A breath of air from his laughter ghosts over my skin. “Me too.” 

When a good majority of it is out, Dean takes us over to the bathtub and it quickly fills with water. He goes in first and then I get in, laying down on his front with my head resting on his chest. “Are you okay?” Dean asks as he runs his hand through my hair. I can literally feel my hair curling. Ah, oh well. I nod my head. “Just sleepy?” I nod my head again. I put my chin on his chest to look up at him and say, “I’m hungry.” He smiles down at me. “I’ll fix you something as soon as we get out.” 

Dean’s hand is still running through my hair as if he’s fascinated with it. “What’s the big deal about my hair?” I ask him. His laugh vibrates through him and makes me move up and down. “Your hair is so thick but curly. I like it,” he explains. “I don’t. Try living with it.” 

Soon, we get out the tub and walk back into the bedroom. We both go into the walk-in closet to get dressed. “Put on some pants, don’t forget you have one last present,” Dean tells me. I put on some sweats, but I’m confused. “We have to go outside for it?” He nods his head. “Close your eyes, I’ll lead you to it.” I do as he says and his hands immediately clasp over my eyes to make sure. “I hope you didn’t just fuck me and then plan on murdering me.” I can hear him chuckle from behind. “I wouldn’t hurt a fly. Just trust me, princess.” “Okay, whatever you say.”

“Are we there yet, Deanie? We’ve been walking for hours,” I say. “No, we haven’t. But you can open your eyes,” he says while removing his hands from my face. I open my eyes to see that we’re in the building’s underground garage. And what sits in front of me is a shiny black Camaro. My eyes bulge. I look over to Dean and he has a bright smile on his face. “Th-that’s for me?” He nods his head. I walk over to the car and point at it. “This car right here…belongs to me?” He smiles at me and says, “Yes, Tambryn. Brand new just for you.” I look through the window to see the interior is in purple leather. And the driver’s seat headrest has my name on it. I look back over to him and jump up and down. I can’t help it. I have a brand spanking new car! What the absolute hell?! 

I run over to him and shower his face with kisses. “Why do you do these things for me, Dean?” He looks at me as if the answer is obvious. “Because I love you.” I smash our lips together one last time and say, “I love you, too.” When we break apart, he shows me the keys. I grab them in a haste, but remember I don’t have on any shoes and that I’m hungry. “Come on, you’ll have plenty of time to drive. Let’s go get you something to eat.” “I’ve got you a Christmas gift, too, ya know.” Dean looks surprised. “I told you that you didn’t have to get me anything, Tambryn.” I shrug my shoulders. “Oh well.” 

We get back up to his condo and I grab his gift from my coat pocket. Dean is already in the kitchen, getting all the ingredients out to start cooking. “Here,” I say. He turns around to look down at my outstretched hand. I’m just now noticing that he grew out his beard. I guess I was too wrapped up in getting fucked to notice it. I run my hand through it before he takes the gift. I hope he likes it. 

He unwraps the paper to see a little booklet inside. He flips through it to see pages and pages of pictures of us. It took ages to get all of these pictures together, pain in the ass really, but it’s all worth it to see that dimpled smile on his face. “I uhh, I didn’t know what to get you, so I thought you’d like these since you have so many pictures around here,” I explain. He flips through the pages a little while longer before his eyes meet mine. “It’s perfect. I didn’t even know we took so many pictures. Thank you, Tambryn,” he says, wrapping me into a tight bear hug. “Now let’s get you something to eat.” 

“Is it normal to still be sore?” I ask him. We’re in his bed watching some late night talk show of some sort. “I think it is, sorry. Do you want a pain killer?” He asks. My eyes start to get heavy. “Nah, I’ll just sleep it off.” “You sure?” He bends down to look me in the eye. I nod my head before tucking myself into his armpit. 

The next day I wake up to the smell of coffee. Man, that shit’s strong. I roll over, but of course Dean’s not there. So I hop out of bed (almost falling on my face) and head to the kitchen. And there Dean is, pouring himself a hot cup of coffee. Man, this would have been the perfect moment to use the mug that Benny bought me. Next time, though. 

He turns around when he hears my footsteps. He has nothing on except for a pair of black sweatpants. “Want a cup?” Dean asks while raising his mug. I shake my head but come up to take a sip of his coffee. He quirks an eyebrow at me. I shrug and say, “I just wanted a sip.” “So how long are you on break?” He asks me. I open the fridge to grab a few grapes before closing the door and turning around. “January. I’m off til next year!” I raise my arms in excitement. Dean’s smile shows over the rim of his mug. 

“Well I have to go into the office for a few hours,” he tells me. “Do you want me to go with you?” He shakes his head. “No need. I’m just going in to take care of some deals and then I’m done.” I nod my head and say, “I guess I can go bother Dovett.” Dean sets down his coffee, grips my hips and sets me on the island. 

“Are you still sore?” He mumbles across my neck. It tickles. “No, why?” But I know why. I’m only wearing one of his t-shirts and a pair of panties, so Dean just rucks up the shirt and hastily slides my panties off. “In here?” I ask. He gives me a mischievous smile before pushing me further to the middle of the island so he can climb on top with me. It’s as if he planned this or something, because he pulls out a small bottle of lube from his pocket. 

He pulls his pants down mid thigh to free his erection. Everything happens so quick because my cooch is slathered in lubricant and so is he. My hands immediately form fists when Dean slides in all the way. His bottom lip is already bruised from him biting down on it so hard. His hips thrusts into mine in a rugged rhythm that makes both of us writhe. My head falls back, everything becoming too much. Dean takes it as an invitation to nip at my exposed neck, kissing it every other bite. 

I lay my hand flat on his chest to get him away from my neck. He looks down at me confused, but still pounding into me. I pull him down to kiss me. It’s a bit flimsy since he’s moving non-stop and we’re trying to get as much air as we can, but we make it work. Dean gets a tight grip on my hip, making him slam into me hard. A shout leaves my throat when he hits something inside of me. My head falls back, making our lips lose touch. “Dean, keep it there. Keep it right fucking there,” I moan, trying but failing to slam my hips back onto him. He does what I say, but doesn’t let me do the work. Ohh, so Dean only gets bossy when he’s fucking.

“Just like this? You want it just. Like. This?” With every word he utters is a pound into me. I nod my head, unable to do anything else. Dean lightly bites at my neck in punishment. “Say it, princess.” I can feel myself tighten around him and of course he does too. “I want it just like that, please fuck me!” The chuckle that leaves his mouth sounds more like it came from an animal than from a human. “Good girl.” And with that, he’s slamming into me mercilessly. The sound of wet skin slapping wet skin is all that can be heard throughout the condo. 

Dean yanks on my hair causing the best kind of sting to flow through my scalp just so he can get better access to my throat. It comes to my mind then that I’m just his chew toy at this moment, but I can’t find it in myself to care. Especially with everything going on. With Dean surrounding me, I couldn’t get out even if I wanted to. He’s on top of me, inside of me, just…everywhere. That familiar warmth in my belly begins to grow and I welcome it. 

My toes curl and my mouth opens, but no sound comes out as my orgasm washes over me. I tighten around him because of it, and Dean lifts his head up from my neck and grabs onto my thighs, pulling me onto him. “Shit, princess,” is all he utters before he's coming inside of me. “Just take it, fuck.” And just like last time, loads and loads keep making its way into me. 

Dean falls on top of me, catching his breath. Is this guy crazy? I’m literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. He’s like two-hundred pounds of dude and he’s trying to lay on me like it’s nothing. I shove at his shoulder, making him peak up at me. “Do you know how heavy you are?” I ask him. Dean huffs but lifts himself up, muttering a ‘sorry’ as he does. 

I get myself in the sitting position and stare down between my legs. Lube and cum is leaking steadily onto the granite countertop. “I’m not cleanin’ that up.” I cup my cooch while hopping off the island to keep from making a bigger mess. “There’s still some running down your legs!” Dean calls after me. I give him the finger before disappearing into the bathroom. 

Dean drops me off in front of Dovett’s apartment building a couple of hours later. With him being the crazy psycho diva that he is, Dove sticks his head out his window and says, “There’s not a virgin in that car, is there?!” Oh my God. I sink back into my seat, hiding myself from the world. Dean chuckles, squeezing my thigh soothingly. “You don’t want to keep him waiting, here,” he passes me my half eaten cookie cake. I lean forward and give him a quick kiss before getting out of the car. “You better call me later, Maverick,” I tell him. He smiles and says, “Promise.” 

“Real fucking smooth there, Dove,” I push past him and into the warm apartment. Robbie’s sitting on the floor in the living room with his laptop on the coffee table in front of him. “I tried to stop ‘im, Bryn. He’s too fast,” he says. I nod my head, at least he tried. I set down my bag of clothes and take off my jacket. Dove takes the cake and brings it into the living room to start eating it without me. Robbie takes a piece of cookie before getting back to his term paper. 

I take a seat on the couch next to Dove and get a piece for myself. “Well since I’m a gentleman,” I snort at that one, “I’ll start off by asking what did he get you?” I wave my hand, “Red bottoms. Red bottoms everywhere. He got me a diamond Rolex just like his, and oh yeah, a car!” Both boys turn their head my way. “He got you a car?” Dove asks. “What kind?” Robbie asks. “Yep, a brand new Camaro.” 

Dove hits the back of Robbie’s head. “Why don’t you buy me a car?” He asks playfully. Robbie points to his laptop as if it holds the answers to the world. “If you haven’t noticed I’m a law student. Oh, and I’m broke!” Dove leans down to give him a kiss before going back to me. “Why didn’t you drive it here?” “It’d look odd if I went home with a car, Dove,” I say. “Well when are you ever gonna drive it?” “When I get back to work in the office. I’ll just say it’s a company car.” 

Robbie scoffs at that. “A company car for a fake ass assistant? Yeah right,” he mumbles. Now that he says it, it does sound like a dumb idea. “Maybe you won a company contest. They were giving away a car and you just so happened to win?” Dove offers. I look down at Robbie since he’s the know-it-all. He shrugs his shoulders. “I guess that can work.” I nod my head and say, “Then I won a company contest.” 

“So, now let’s get down to business…” Dove trails off when he sees my neck. He pulls down the neckline of my oversized sweater to see all of the hickeys and bite marks. Dove slaps his boyfriend on the back to get his attention. “I’m not gonna get any kind of work done with you two together…” he mutters before he sees my neck too. “Does it look that bad?” I ask timidly. They both nod their heads. 

“I didn’t know the guy had it in ‘im,” Robbie says in awe. I slap Dove’s hand away so I can pull my sweater up to its respective place. “How was it? Was he gentle?” My blonde friend asks. I lean back on the couch and take another piece of cookie cake. “He’s never had sex with a virgin so he researched some stuff,” I tell them. Dove touches his heart all dream like. “How’d you get all those bruises if he was gentle?” Robbie asks. I point to my neck and say, “These came from this morning.” Their eyes widen again in unison. 

“You guys did it twice?!” I nod my head. “That’s awesome,” Robbie says and fist bumps me. “So last night was all rainbows and buttercups, but this morning he just fucked your brains out?” I guess that’s the best way to put it. “Yup.” Dove leans back and says, “This guy just gets better and better.” “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!


	21. Spitters Are Quitters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna warn ya now that this chapter has some homophobic slurs in it. Not that many, maybe a couple. Just wanted to warn you. But enjoy!

I come back home Monday afternoon after a day at the office. Mom’s here on her way out to cater a party on the North Side. And I can see it in her eye immediately. “Nope, I’ve got work tomorrow,” I say while rushing to the stairs. “I know, I know, but I need you, Bryn. It’ll just be for a few hours. Please?” She’s begging and I hate when she begs. I turn back around to face her and she’s even pleading with her eyes…until she narrows them. “You…look different,” she then takes the first step up to look at me closer. I take another step up. “Different how?” I ask. But I already know. I mean she told me that when she lost her virginity that her mother knew right away just by looking at her. Oh Lord. 

She shrugs her shoulders, still looking suspicious. “I dunno, just…different,” her voice is low. I let out a nervous laugh and say, “Maybe because I’m eighteen? Could that be it?” She looks me up and down. Wait, it just clicks in me. I’m an adult. She can know that I’m not a virgin anymore. But then she’ll ask who it is and I’m not for it. “Yes, I guess that can be it,” she says. I huff out a breath because I know the only way to get out of this uncomfortable situation. 

“Let me just go get dressed,” I say. That makes her snap out of it and a bright smile is on her face. “Okay thanks, hon, I’ll be in the car,” then she’s out the door. I roll my eyes and finish getting up the steps. 

“Hellooo, beautiful!” Dove sing-songs across the phone line. “Please tell me you’re gonna be at work today,” I say. He giggles. “Yeah, I will.” I put him on speaker and pull on my black slacks. “Well thank Jesus. I think my mom is putting shit together.” “How do you mean?” A car horn sounds from outside. “Ugh, I’ll tell ya later, she’s getting impatient.” I hang up the phone and button up my shirt before running down the steps. “Well it’s about time,” Mom says when I get in the car. “Whatever,” I mumble. She slaps the back of my head.

We pull up to the Château Ritz about forty five minutes later. It’s a pretty cool place. Mainly a place for weddings. “Is this a wedding?” I ask when we get the supplies out of the back. “Nah. That’s what this place is for but no. It’s for some cancer foundation. Here, take this,” Mom hands me a bin of pots and pans and I take it. 

The Caverly van pulls up behind us and a bunch of her workers jump out, getting equipment out fast. Wow, I’ve never seen my mom’s employees get so serious. And then Dove steps out of the van, waving ecstatically, ruining the work ethic. Oh geez. I wave back before walking into the back of the building. 

“So Dean’s gonna be here,” Dove starts off. I narrow my eyes and put down the silverware. “Why do you know that?” He shrugs. “Because Dean and I are BFF’s,” he sticks his tongue out at me. I scoff. Whatever. “You’re my best friend and all you wanna do is fuck him. But I already did that…four times, actually.” His eyes widen in surprise. “You win this round, Caverly.” 

About an hour later is when everyone starts piling in. We all stand in line and wait for everyone to get in here before walking around with our trays filled with champagne. “Hey, assistant Tambryn! I didn’t know you catered, too!” I already know it’s Alex before I even turn around. Dean and Alex start walking towards me with bright smiles on their faces. I wave at them both. “Yeah, hey. It’s actually my mom’s business. She makes me help out from time to time.” They both take a glass from my tray, nodding their head.

“Man, two jobs at your age? I couldn’t even keep one!” I’ve learned that his loud voice is just his normal calm voice. Must be his ADHD. “That’s because you couldn’t focus enough to keep a job,” Dean says. Alex turns and gives his friend a fake smile. “Well thank God I have you to employ me, eh.” He wraps one arm around Dean and claps him hard on the shoulder. These two guys together make me laugh. 

“Hey, Dean!” Dovett says as he makes his way over to the three of us. “Dove, how are you?” Dean gives him a fragile hug since he’s holding the tray full of drinks. “Do you know everyone who works here or something, Mav?” Alex asks, taking in the bright sight of my friend Dovett. Dean points to the both of us and says, “They’re friends, that’s how I know him.” Alex nods his head, still a bit confused. 

Dovett’s eyes travel up and down Alex, taking him in. Oh Lord, Dove, you have a boyfriend! Alex extends his hand to Dove and they shake hands. “Alexander Walker,” he gives him a smile. “Dovett Adler. But everyone just calls me Dove.” They give each other a cute smile before Dove walks away and Alex watches him. Wait…what? Dean even catches what he’s looking at. “Umm, I’m not judging, but I thought you said you were done with men,” Dean says. 

Alex shrugs his shoulders and says, “I like what I like. Hey, Dove!” And then he’s off. “He goes both ways?” I ask. Dean raises his eyebrows. “He uhh, he really doesn’t like to put labels on himself. But…yes.” Wow, you learn something new everyday. My eyes for some reason travel to the entrance and that’s exactly when Jacob’s ass walks in, with that Judy bitch. “Oh my God.” I should’ve expected it since this is the North Side. “What’s wrong?” Dean looks in the direction that I’m looking. “Jacob,” I mutter. 

“The boy with the red tie?” He asks. I nod my head. And out of nowhere, Jacob and I make eye contact with each other and he starts walking over. Dean leaves immediately. “Hey, Bryn. I forgot that your mom was a caterer,” Jacob says. I nod my head, wishing for a laser beam to come down on this dude and his bitch right now. I hear that NASA has accidents all the time. 

“Sooo, what you mean to tell me is that she’s going to be our server for this whole night?” Judy asks with that sly disgusting smile on her face. Jacob smiles and says, “Yes, yes she will.” I roll my eyes and see my mother. She mouths, ‘Calm down’. I take a deep breath and turn back to the two idiots in front of me. “Are you two done? ‘Cuz I really have to make my rounds.” Jacob smiles and makes room for me to leave them. This is gonna be a long night. 

“Do you want me to cut him? Because I will. I mean, if he hits me back, it’ll be a gay hate crime.” Dove says as we get the main courses on the trays. That sounds like a wonderful idea, but not worth it at all. “Nah, I’ll deal with him.” When we walk back out to the main room, where I see that Dean and Alex are right next to the table that Jacob and Judy are sitting at. Fuck. “You take Dean’s table and I’ll take theirs,” Dove says. I love this lil’ dude more and more everyday. 

“What did Alex say to you?” I ask, we’re still walking across the room. There’s a wide smile on my blonde friend’s face. “He basically just wants to fuck. And as much as I’ll love to, I love Robbie more.” Aww. We get to our respective tables and begin to pass out the plates. When I set Dean’s plate in front of him, a glass shattering sounds throughout the room. I look over to see that it was Judy who dropped it and she’s looking right at me. 

Dove makes to clean it up, but the bitch stops him. “No, I think Tambryn should pick it up,” she says. I take a deep breath and put my tray back on the cart clenching and unclenching my hands. Dean looks up at me, pleading with me to calm down. “I’m already down here, just let me pick it up,” Dove says, and again makes to pick up the shattered glass. Judy stops him again. “If you pick up the glass, I'll break another,” she hisses. Dean turns around and asks her, “Why is it so important for her to pick up the glass?” Judy looks at him as if he’s stupid. “Uhh because it’s her job.” 

“Bitch, what the hell is your problem?” Alex asks. I like him. Before that bitch can say anything and cause more of a scene, I go over there and pick up the glass myself with the white apron around my waist. “Okay, it’s done. Don’t drop anything else,” I tell her, contemplating if I should just dump all this damn glass on her. “She’s a klutz, Bryn, that’s all,” Jacob smiles while putting his arm around the back of her seat. I walk away before I do something that’ll get me arrested. 

I push open the doors to the kitchen a little harder than necessary, but I can’t really help it. I know some heads turned. “Tambryn, what’s wrong?” It’s my mom. “That bitch was being a bitch to her, that’s what’s wrong!” Dove’s in here, too. My mom comes up from behind me and says, “Bryn baby, please don’t let her get to ya. Do this for me, darlin’. I really need this money.” My grip tightens on the stainless steel farmer’s sink. She rubs small circles into my back. “Baby?” She asks. I let out one last breath before standing up straight and walking right past both of them. 

In the main hall, everyone goes back to their business as if nothing happened. I stay in the back of the room, where the dark casts over the tables that haven’t been used. You may think I’m overreacting, I just don’t want to hurt anybody and get my mom ostracized from this whole city. My phone in my pocket starts to vibrate and it’s Dean. “Hello?” I answer; I know the anger is noticeable in my voice. “I’m not even going to ask if you’re all right because I know that you aren’t. I just wanted to check up on you,” he says. 

A slight smile is on my face. “Can I come over tonight? Wanna smoke? Maybe fuck,” I say. He takes a deep breath in. “Okay,” he finally says. “Okay,” I say before ending the call. And that’s when my mom starts to walk over. Shit. “Tambryn, I know you’re mad, but I need you out there.” I’m not even in the mood for anybody’s shit right now. “I swear to God, Mom, I’m not doing this for awhile. And when I say awhile, I mean months. Start getting professionals to work for you except for unreliable pricks,” I push past her and begin clearing off the tables.

Thank God almighty that this stupid event for whatever the fuck it was for is finally over. Dean’s in the parking lot waiting for me. Mom pulls me into a corner in the kitchen and says, “I don’t care how mad you get, Tambryn Elise. Don’t you ever talk to me like that ever again, you hear me?” I’ve got a good five inches on my mom so I have to look down at her furious face. “Then stop making me fill in for your employees. It’s that easy,” I say before walking out of the kitchen all together. “Bryn!” Dove calls after me, but I don’t look back. 

I see Judy walking to a car across the parking lot, but before I can take a step in her direction, Dean blows his horn to get my attention as if he knew exactly what I had on my mind. I slide into the car and look straight ahead. He leans across his seat and gives my neck a kiss. For some reason, it calms me instantly. “Don’t let a stupid girl get to you like that,” he whispers into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. I cross my arms across my chest and say, “She’s such a fucking bitch, Dean! And then my mom wanted to get all bitchy with me because I didn’t wanna work. This isn’t my fucking job!” Dean nods his head the whole way, listening to me.

“You know, you curse a lot,” Dean says when he unlocks the door to his condo. “Oh, fuck off. You curse up a storm every time you fuck me,” I say while making my way to his bedroom. I took the bag of weed from Dove’s coat pocket before I left the event. Dean comes in shortly after me to start undressing. He turned up the heat before coming in, thank God. I turn around to see him in his boxer briefs while I’m in my bra and panties. I gesture for Dean to get in bed first and he does. I pull open the drawer of the nightstand to get the lighter and printer paper in there. 

I lay the supplies on Dean’s stomach and climb on top of him, each thigh on each side of his torso. “Don’t breathe too much, old man,” I tell him while crushing the weed with my fingernails. He chuckles, but it doesn’t move my stuff too much. I roll it up as soon as possible so he can get to breathing regularly. I take the lighter from his chest and light the edge of the paper. “You only do this when you’re mad?” Dean asks. I exhale, smoke surrounding my whole face. I pass it down to him and shake my head. “I do it anytime. But I do smoke way more when I’m mad.” 

Dean puts the makeshift joint between his lips, cups his hand to keep the fire from the lighter from moving around and fires up the weed. Yeah, this is definitely not his first time smoking. He breathes in deeply, his chest puffing out before exhaling. A bigger cloud of smoke coming from him. I lean forward to suck some of the smoke from the air. He passes it back over to me and I get an idea. “You wanna shotgun?” I ask him. He raises an eyebrow at my question. “Does that even work?” I scoff. “Hell yeah it works, come on.” I light up the joint, inhale, and lean down, inches away from Dean’s mouth. His mouth forms a small O as he sucks in the smoke coming from my mouth. 

We go back and forth like that for awhile until we’re both blown. All of the weed isn’t even gone yet, but it’s all good, ‘cuz we’re all good. My legs are still trapping him, but I bend down the top part of my body to lie on top of Dean. He runs his big hand through my hair like he’s been doing a lot lately. “I-I miss your curly hair. Make it curly again, princess.” His words are choppy since he’s so high. I lift my head up from his chest to look at him. The white parts of his eyes are so red that it makes the blue in his eyes pop even more. I shake my head, tickling him in the process.

“No, Deanie. I don’t like it curly,” I say. He pouts his bottom lip. “But I grew a beard for you. Make your hair curly.” He does have a point. My eyes travel down to said beard and I move up to bite it. He chuckles and tries to get me away from him. He finally gets my mouth away from his beard and I get off, lying next to him instead. “Are you horny?” I ask him. And as if on cue, he reaches down to squeeze his hardening erection. “A little,” he says. My eyes are getting heavy. We should’ve fucked and then smoked. That would’ve been some good fucking, too, since I was angry at the world. 

“I’m tired. You’re gonna have to take care of it yourself.” He lets out a deep sigh. “But I’m too tired to take care of it myself.” I let out a yawn. “We’ll fuck tomorrow,” I say before drifting off to sleep. 

 

“Princess, it’s time to get up,” Dean whispers to me. My eyes flutter open to see him dressed in a blue suit with a tray of breakfast in his hands. I wipe my eyes and sit up for him to put the tray on my thighs. He takes a seat next to me and picks some of the strawberries from the bowl. He made me turkey sausages, eggs, and a crescent roll. “I put your juice on the nightstand. Let me know when you want it,” he tells me. I nod my head and get down to business. 

“What time is it?” I ask him. He looks down at his Rolex. “Quarter to eleven. We have time. And your mother called you a few times. You should probably call her back.” Ugh, my head thunks against the headboard. I really don’t feel like talking to her. “You shouldn’t be too much in trouble because Dove called me to make sure you were with me and he told her that you were with him.” “This is all so confusing,” I mumble. He chuckles and gets up. “Do you want me to get your clothes out?” He asks. I nod my head. “Thanks.”

“Can we fuck really quick?!” I yell so he can hear me in the closet. Dean emerges with a pair of teal silk capri pants and a Dolce & Gabbana lace top. “No we cannot. You had the chance to get some of this last night and didn’t take advantage of your opportunity,” he says while setting the clothes on the bed. I roll my eyes but continue to eat the food. “You’ve been hangin’ out with Dove for too long. You’re starting to become a queen just like him.” Dean reaches over to take a few more strawberries before leaving the room to go do something else. He’s no fun. 

When we get to work, Alex is nowhere to be found, but there is a Christmas party going on. The place is decorated with tinsel, expensive wreaths on each door, and a huge Christmas tree that looks like Martha Stewart decorated it in the corner. The meeting table in the middle of the room is filled with donuts, cookies, egg nog, and little finger sandwiches. “I forgot about the Christmas party,” Dean mutters to himself. My eyes narrow on him and I say, “You own this place and you forgot about the party?” He shrugs. “I put someone in charge of the company parties.” Man, that’s no excuse. I make my way over to the table and pick up a donut, of course I did. 

I turn around to Dean talking to a few people in suits about something that is too boring and too complex for my brain to comprehend. “Hey, Bryn!” the person slurs. I turn to my right to see a drunken Alex with a Santa’s hat barely covering his head. “Jesus, Alex, it’s only eleven in the morning,” I say while helping him into a chair. He laughs and says, “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” “I guess.” “Tambryn baby, we should party together one day.” I shake my head with a smile on my face. “I don’t think I can handle your partying, Alex.” He lets out a belly laugh while leaning back into his chair. “No one can.”

The whole day was just spent with me helping Alex function with being drunk the whole time. But I didn’t mind, free food was everywhere and Alex is hilarious. But Dean spent the whole time discussing business and such with other important people and his son, Brendan. 

“Can I come over tomorrow?” I ask while we sit in the car down the block from my house. Dean leans over to give me a kiss on the lips. “Of course you can.” I give him a smile before getting out the car. Now it’s time to face my mother, ugh. 

“So now we just run away from our problems?” Mom asks right when I step into the house. She was ready for me. I turn around to set my stuff on the table in the hall. “No one was running away from their problems. I just didn’t feel like being there anymore,” I tell her while walking into the kitchen. And of course she follows. “If I’m talking to you, don’t walk away, understand?” I roll my eyes, but she can’t see because my face is stuffed in the fridge. “I don’t see why you’re trying to make this into all my fault, ma. That girl dropped that glass on purpose, your glass. She did it just because-” “I know why she did it, Tambryn! But you can’t let some stuck up girl control your emotions like that, especially when my job is on the line.” 

I finally turn around to face her. “Then stop bringing me to your events! It’s that easy. I’ll even help you find a few people for the job. It’s illegal anyways for me to be there carrying around alcohol.” She shakes her head as if she’s disappointed in me. I don’t know why, she has no reason to be. “You talk as if I can just pull money out of my ass to hire more people. It’s cheaper to just get you to go. And after everything I’ve done for you, I would think you would have no problem in helping me out a few times a month.” 

I’m tired of talking, so I just nod my head and walk up to my room. She just doesn’t get it. Renee’s door is open when I get to the second floor. “I can’t wait til you’re old enough for her to bother you to help her.” She huffs out a laugh before getting back to her book. All I can do right now is go in my room and go to sleep. 

Today is Christmas Eve and I’m at Dean’s. We don’t have to be anywhere til tomorrow. I have to go to my grandma’s house and he has to spend it with his kids. “What did you get your granddaughter?” I ask him with a smile on my face, trying to hide it, but can’t. Dean looks down at me and rolls his eyes. “Is there something else you would like to say?” He asks. I let him see the full smile and laugh in his face. “Old man.” He throws his head back and laughs. “I knew it. But yes, I did get her a few things, toys mostly,” he tells me. 

We’re on the couch watching something. It’s weird; we’ll just turn on the TV and talk, not even really watching what’s on the screen. “You know what we should’ve done? We should’ve made a pre-Christmas dinner just for us,” I tell him while climbing in his lap. It’s comforting just leaning against him. “You’re right. Can you settle for burgers and fries?” I look up at him with a smile. “I can always settle for burgers and fries.” “Why did I even ask?” I lean up and press his lips to mine. 

Dean’s hands grip my ass to bring me closer up to him. I wrap my arms around his shoulders as he rolls his tongue over mine. And as expected, something starts poking me in the butt. I back away from his mouth and stare back at him. His face is flushed and his eyes are an electric blue that always comes out when he’s horny. “Why’d you stop?” He asks softly while running his hands down my sides. “Because…” My words trail off as I slide off his lap and onto the hardwood floor between his legs. 

The smile on his face drops as he gets the idea. I lay my head on his thigh and stare up at him innocently. “Tambryn,” he says. I flash him a bright smile before looking down at the ever growing bulge in his sweats. I lean forward and cup my mouth over it. Dean lets out a moan before gently shoving me away. “Don’t do that,” he tells me. “Why not? You do it to me. Why won’t you let me blow you? The way all the guys around me talk about it, I would think it’d be you trying to get it.”

Dean covers his face with his hands for a moment before looking down at me. “Do I really need to explain it to you?” He says. I nod my head, ‘cuz I’m really confused. “I come a lot, Tambryn. You already know that. I’ve had about three women choke because of it.” I snort, trying to cover up my laugh. He gives me his blank face, willing me to stop laughing. I hold up my hand in a silent apology. “I just don’t want you to choke,” he finishes. 

“Then teach me how to do it,” I say. He looks at me for a moment, rolling the idea over in his head. Dean grabs the remote and turns off the TV. My eyes widen, he’s actually gonna let me do this. He lifts his hips up a bit to pull down his sweat pants to mid-thigh to free his erection. I lean forward til my chest hits the cushion on the couch. Dean strokes himself a bit, making a few beads of precome spurt out. “Stick your tongue out,” he tells me. I do as he says and he places the head of his dick on my tongue and strokes himself, making more of the clear fluid land on my taste buds. “You taste that?” He asks. I nod my head. “You’re going to be swallowing a lot of that. The closer I get, the more that’ll build up in the back of your throat and it’ll be instinct to swallow. Open your mouth and just suck on the head.”

I do as he says and suck the head into my mouth. He tastes like skin and a faint taste of musk, I like it. A moan comes from above and a smile starts up inside of me. “You think you can get more spit?” He asks. I try to produce more saliva, making my tongue move up and down on him. All the saliva I gathered just starts trailing down his shaft. I look up at him to check if that’s what he wanted and he nods his head in confirmation. “You’re doing well, princess. Now wrap your hand around me.” My right hand comes up to grip what’s not in my mouth. I guess I grip him too hard because he winces. I back up altogether, a string of saliva connecting my bottom lip to the head of his dick. 

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. He shakes his head and says, “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay,” he gently pulls me back to his dick by the back of my head, “Let’s try again.” I open my mouth and grip him a little less manic and start to stroke him. Dean’s fingers tangle in my hair as he just lets me take over. I open my mouth wider to take more of him in and he hits the back of my throat. Dean’s moaning keeps me from sliding him from my mouth. I start breathing through my nose to keep from gagging. 

Dean’s breathing becomes harsher by the second. And what I’ve learned from recent sexual trysts, it means that he’s close. “M-move your hand…f-faster,” he breathes. I slide off a bit to hollow my cheeks and suck on the head, moving my hand faster on him. Dean’s knee begins to bounce. There’s a build-up of precome in the back of my throat and I swallow it, yanking a moan from him. I look up at him and he’s already looking down at me. I add more suction and his head falls back on the couch. “Princess, I’ve got to come, get off.” I don’t get off and that makes him look down at me with hazy lust filled eyes. “Tambryn, come on,” he whines, gently pushing my head away. 

I move my hand faster over his length and he gives up the fight, arching his back as his orgasm rushes over him and into my mouth. Dean’s hand tightens in my hair, pushing me further down. It’s creamy, I don’t know why this is surprising to me but it is. The taste hits my tongue and it’s not bad. He’s really healthy (healthier than me) so it tastes like strawberries. He just had those like an hour ago. I swallow quickly before he releases another load into my mouth. Dean slides up the sofa, making him slide from out of my mouth making the last of it drip down my lips. I lick my lips and swallow what’s left.

Dean pulls his pants back up and smoothes back his hair. “You don’t have to swallow everything I put in your mouth,” he mumbles. I climb up his body and wrap my arms around his neck. “I didn’t choke!” He cracks a smile at that. “No, you didn’t.” I rest my chin on his chest and stare up at him. “Did I do good, Deanie?” “You did great, princess,” he says before leaning down and smashing our lips together. My eyes widen. He still wants to kiss me? His tongue even plunges into my mouth. 

“I’ve already fed you but are you still hungry?” Dean asks. My eyes roll by their own accord. I muff his head and make my way to the bathroom. “You’re disgusting, Dean!” He chuckles. 

Mom and I still aren’t really talking to each other, so I chose to sleep over at Dovett’s for Christmas. I don’t like my stuck up cousins anyway. Robbie and I are Dovett’s guests at his parents’ house. I’ve been here a few times, but Robbie’s never been, so of course he’s a bit fidgety. What I can expect from this night are a couple of homophobic arguments between Dovett and his father, Dove’s brothers getting into drinking contests with each other, and them bringing their big boobed girlfriends. 

“Do you like ‘im?” Evan, one of Dove’s older brothers asks me. He’s a tall, buff red headed dude that absolutely adores Dovett. Even though the brothers don’t really have a problem with their little brother being gay, Evan has always had a softer side for him. I look over at Robbie who’s making chit chat with their mother. “Yeah, I do. He has to be my favorite of his boyfriends thus far,” I tell him.

Evan nods his head as he takes a big gulp of beer. “He’s done with the older men?” He asks. I crack a smile at that. “Yeah, I think so. But I think this one is going to stick around a little bit longer.” Evan crushes his beer can and tosses it into the garbage. “Well, if you approve, I guess I’ll give ‘im a chance.” 

Dove’s big bellied father, Charlie, walks into the kitchen where his wife and Robbie are. Oh God. “So you’re dating my daughter, eh?” He asks. Robbie’s smile drops and what’s left in its place is a worried look. He looks as if he doesn’t know how to answer that question. “Charlie…” His wife warns. Dove goes into the kitchen to go do God knows what. “Are you still using that age old joke, dad?” Dove asks, crossing his arms. 

Charlie cracks a smile at his youngest son. He looks a bit tipsy if I’m being honest. “What? I’m just askin’ your little boyfriend a few questions.” Dove uncrosses his arms to start pointing his finger in his dad’s direction. “If you knew he was my boyfriend then why ask him that dumb ass question?” Evan sighs and looks over at his brothers. They all share a look before getting up and making their way to the kitchen, leaving me with their girlfriends in the living room. 

“Listen you little fruit, don’t talk to me like that in my own damn house!” Charlie yells. “Well would you prefer if we go outside for me to talk shit? ‘Cuz it makes no difference to me.” Evan grabs his little blonde brother and takes him upstairs, while everyone stays downstairs to calm down Charlie, that douche. “Does this always happen?” One of the brothers’ girlfriends ask. “Unfortunately, yes” Robbie searches for me with a worried look in his eyes. I motion for him to follow me upstairs and he does. “I was so confused. I didn’t know what to say, Bryn,” he mutters as we take the steps one at a time. I pat him on the shoulder and say, “You did good not saying anything at all. You saying something may have made it worse.”

“He’s a fucking asshole, Evan! He says shit for no reason at all!” We can hear his voice before even opening the door. Evan holds him by the shoulders, nodding his head. “I know, but that’s him, Dove. He’s not gonna change anytime soon, so don’t even feed into that ignorance,” Evan’s always been the voice of reason. Dove nods his head, letting his big brother’s words sink in and that’s when he notices us in the doorway. “You okay?” Robbie asks. Evan moves so Dove can come to us. “Yeah, let’s go back downstairs.” 

We get back downstairs and everyone’s sitting around the table, waiting on our return. Robbie sits down next to me and Dove comes around and gives his boyfriend the most R-rated kiss that I even had to look away. Oh, Lord. I look over at Charlie, and his face can’t get redder than what it is now. When they part, Robbie looks terrified and Dove looks smug. His father stands up abruptly and yells, “Get out, faggot! Get out, now!” Oh, come on! I didn’t even get to eat yet! Dove smiles at him and says, “Glad to,” and sashays away. “Uh, it was great meeting all of you. Sorry for the kiss,” Robbie says before following Dove out. “Can I uhh, take this plate?” I ask, pointing down at my plate full of food. Bitzi, Dove’s mother, nods her head, shooing me away. I thank her and scurry out of the house with my plate of food, almost forgetting my coat in the process.

“Well that was a bust,” Robbie says when we get into the car. Dove shrugs his shoulders, still proud of himself. “Who cares. My brothers like you, so that’s all that matters.” “What are we gonna do now?” I ask over a mouth full of mashed potatoes. They both turn their heads to the back seat and look down at the full plate in my lap. “Well since most of the people in this car are starving-” I interrupt Robbie to say, “Just because I’m stuffing my face right now doesn’t mean I can’t go for some more food.” He rolls his eyes and continues. “You guys wanna order a pizza?” 

Dove and I share a look. “Who’s open right now? It’s Christmas.” “That Jewish pizza place down the street from the apartment,” Robbie answers. “Hey, I don’t care who’s makin’ the pizza, as long as we just get some, I’m in,” I say. Dovett nods his head and starts up the car, leaving his parents’ house behind.

About an hour later, we’re all in Dove’s living room watching, It’s a Christmas Story, eating the Jewish pizza. It’s actually not that bad, I’d get it again. “Well, I think tonight went better than last year,” I say. “Eh, yeah you’re right,” Dove agrees. “What happened last year?” Robbie asks, totally clueless. Dove and I both burst into laughter. “You don’t wanna know.”


	22. Busted

Unfortunately, Christmas break had to end and I’m back in school. But at least there’s three months left for my lazy ass in this hell hole before I have my diploma. But of course this school had to make my last few months the worst. I have three classes with Jacob throughout the day for some dumb ass reason or another. I mean, he doesn’t even live in the district, so how the hell can he even be here? I’ll bet my Camaro that he persuaded the school board to let him in just to make me suffer. 

“Hey, Bryn,” Jacob calls from across the room. Oh, geez. I’m in my writing class that I didn’t even wanna take in the first damn place. This guy just makes up reasons to talk to me, I swear. “What, Jacob?” I snap. He has the nerve to look surprised at my tone. “Whoa, what’s wrong with you?” I take in a deep breath. Dean’s words rolling over in my head, telling me to calm down. “What’s your girlfriend’s problem with me?” 

He looks confused for a second before a smile crawls across his face, remembering. “Oh, she’s just a little overprotective, that’s all. Don’t worry about her,” he says. Is this guy fucking serious? “Don’t worry about her? That bitch broke a glass just so I could pick it up for her, and you tell me not to worry about her?!” The class is starting to look our way, but the teacher ignores us; I guess she’s as ready for the school year to be over just as much as us. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about her, she’s harmless,” Jacob says. I scoff and say, “Oh, I’m not worried about my safety, dude. You should be worried about hers. You of all people should know that I’ll deck that bitch. She’s got one more time, Jacob. One more time before I beat her ass, so you better tell her.” Jacob backs up with his hands up. “Okay, okay. I’ll deal with her. Happy?” Ugh, this guy. “Very,” I say before getting back to my essay, silently dismissing him. And thankfully, he takes the hint.

“Where does his girlfriend go, anyway?” Benny asks at lunch a few hours later. I shrug my shoulders, not even caring at the moment. “Some prestigious expensive ass school,” Lily answers. “I feel like you shoulda beat her ass at that party when you had the chance.” Sometimes Benny knows what he’s talking about…only sometimes. “I did, I swear to God I did. But my mom would’ve had my ass and I’d just look like a jealous peasant around all of those rich assholes.” 

Lily cocks her head to the right, silently agreeing. “She’s just gonna get worse, dude. What happens when she breaks a damn chandelier and demands you to clean it up?” The thought alone makes my blood boil. “You right, you right. But I’m not gonna be helping my mom out for awhile after last time.” Mom and I are on speaking terms now, but I still don’t think she understands where I’m coming from. 

“Well, when you do kick her ass, please make sure someone is there to record it, ‘cuz I’d hate to miss something that epic,” Benny says while popping a fry into his mouth. I give him a toothy grin, promising them both. 

“Sooo, you let him cum in your mouth…and vag? That’s love right there,” Dove says as he sets down the gay erotic book he’s been reading for months. I haven’t seen my blonde one since Christmas, but he seems to be holding up fine. I nod my head and say, “Yeah, don’t you let Robbie do the same?” He pokes out his lips, leaning back on the sofa’s arm. “Umm, sometimes. If we’re in public I make him wear a condom, but other than that, no.” Oh, Lord. Well, I can’t really judge since we did a little somethin’ somethin’ in Dean’s office.

Dove untucks his leg from under his bum to get up and walks to the kitchen. “Where’s Robbie, anyway?” I ask while picking up the fuck book. “He had some important exam to get to. He’s been nervous about it for the last few weeks so I gave him a good luck blow job.” My eyes narrow not only because of Dovett’s words, but because of this book. It’s so…dirty. “Pretty sure nothing of the sort exists,” I mumble. 

“Yuh-huh. I’ll prove it to you when he comes back later with an A plus in his hand. It’ll all be because I gave him the best BJ of his life,” Dove argues. I roll my eyes at his logic. I’ll let the queen believe whatever he wants. 

 

“I didn’t see you at the charity auction last night,” Dean says as he plops down next to me on the sofa. I pull my feet up to my chest, it’s cold in here. He tucks me into him to warm me up. Sometimes I think he turns down the heat just so he can coddle me. “Yeah, I didn’t go. My mom found someone else to do it. I told her not to call me for those jobs for awhile. They’re tiring,” I tell him. 

“So I’m not going to see my Princess for awhile?” He whines. I giggle and lift my head to look up at him. “You’ll still see me, silly.” Dean cracks a smile, showing off his dimples. “I know, I know. But I have to tell you something.” He sounds so serious all of a sudden. “And what might that be, Maverick?” I ask him. 

Dean purses his lips, a bit nervous. “My daughters really like you…and well, Marlon does too. So they wanted you to come to the twins’ dinner party. They just moved into a house together. It’s a small bungalow in the Western Suburbs. Would you like to come? You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he explains. Aww. I give him the biggest smile I can muster. 

“Of course I’d love to go. When is it?” I ask. The nervousness is dropped from his face and what’s left is that cute smile of his. “Next Saturday night.” I nod my head before placing it on his chest. It’s quiet for awhile as we sit in comfortable silence. “Wanna fuck?” I ask him. He doesn’t answer right away. “You horn dog,” Dean says. “Shut up.” 

 

“Man you guys are such a married couple right now, it’s nauseating,” Benny says as we sit on a bench in the park. It’s still pretty cold out, but there’s absolutely nothing to do in this town and we wanted to be outside, so this is the best we could do. Lily had some Polish reunion to go to, so she couldn’t be here. I just told him about my plans for Saturday and of course he has something to say about it. 

I roll my eyes and say, “I really don’t see how we’re a married couple.” He grabs my Dunkin Donuts cup of hot chocolate to take a few sips. Might I add he didn’t even help pay for it, douche bag. “You guys do everything together. And it’s like you left us behind! You don’t love us anymore!” I snatch my drink back and ignore him for a second. “I don’t love you anymore, Benito.” He drops the act to give me the middle finger. We both sit back and watch the younger kids across the park smoke a joint so conspicuously that it’s funny. 

“Should we call the police on them?” I ask him. He shakes his head and his hair moves around his face. “Nah, we were like them just a few years ago.” “You right, you right.”

Ever since I got to the office right after school, Dean has been stressing out. “Brendan messed up another deal with some company in Wisconsin, and the deal that he did get with that Macy’s down the street wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for. So…just be careful what ya say to him, ‘kay?” Alex warns me when I get to work. My eyes scan over to Dean’s closed door. It’s usually open except for the times when he and I are in there together, so he must be pretty mad. 

I nod my head and go to the lounge to go make Dean a cup of green tea. I make my way over to his office door and knock on it. “I’m not taking anymore appointments for today. You can discuss that with my assistant,” he says behind the door. Wow, I can already hear the anger in his voice. I open the door anyway and his fist pounds against his desk. He’s about to say something before he sees that it’s me. He's fucking hot when he's angry.

Dean visibly relaxes and sits back in his chair. “Hi, Princess,” he mumbles while smoothing back his hair. I close the door behind me and walk over to him. “Heard you had a bad day,” I say before leaning down and giving him a kiss. “I guess that slightly explains it,” he mumbles. He mumbles a lot when he’s angry. I push the cup of tea closer to him. He thanks me silently before taking a few sips. 

“I just don’t know what to do about that boy,” Dean says while shaking his head at the same time. I shrug my shoulders, debating if I should even tell him what I’m thinking. “Maybe it’s time to just fire him,” I say quickly. Dean looks up at me over the brim of his mug. “Maybe you’re right.” 

We sit in silence as he drinks his tea, still brewing over today’s events. I slip out of my heels and slide to my knees between Dean’s legs. He takes one look at me and starts shaking his head, setting the mug on the desk. “Nope, no not here, Tambryn. Get up.” I ignore his words and begin to unbuckle his dress pants. Dean wraps his hands around my wrists to stop my ministrations. We both stop to look at each other. “Stop,” he says. 

“You break the record of the dude that has denied the most blow jobs ever. I’m just trying to help, Dean,” I huff. Dean looks at me a little while longer before letting my wrists go and leaning back into his chair. I continue to unbuckle his pants and pull them down a bit. I dig into his boxers and pull him out. He’s soft so I stroke him a bit to get him hard. Our eyes meet when I finally slide him into my mouth. 

Dean tries to muffle his moans since we’re in the office, but at least I can still hear him. My mouth and throat open up wider to let him in further. When I fit half of him in my mouth, I stay there and suck, swallowing the precome in the back of my throat. Dean’s grip on the armrest is so tight that I can hear the wood crackling under his hand.

My hand starts stroking his shaft, pulling off to suck on the head. My mouth makes the loudest slurping noise on his dick that it gets my heart pumping fast. Oh my God. Dean lets out a moan mixed with a chuckle and runs his fingers through my hair. “It’s okay, Princess. I love that sound,” he moans. I avert my eyes from his and just start bobbing my head in his lap, pulling moans from him at every down stroke. 

Dean’s grip in my hair starts to get tighter and tighter the closer he gets to release. “Make me come, baby. Use your tongue, yeah there you go, make me come,” he breathes. Since I can’t smile physically, I smile on the inside. I absolutely love it when he talks like this. 

“Hey, Mav! Where didja put my-” Alex’s voice booms through the still air as he opens the door. Shit! I quickly crawl away and face the window, wiping my mouth furiously. “I thought that door was locked, Tambryn,” Dean hisses while buckling his pants back up in a haste. Fuck, I forgot. 

“I knew it, I fucking knew it!” Alex yelps, jumping around the room. “Alex, why are you still in here?” Dean asks. Alex stops his victory dance to shut the door before getting back to it. “Ahh, you guys…hehe. You guys are the biggest cliché of the best pornos known to man.” Hmm, sounds like something Benny has said. I wipe around my mouth a few more times to make sure and swallow whatever’s left in my throat. “Alexander, I know this might be hard for you, but can you please keep your voice down,” Dean says. 

Alex calms down and takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Sorry Mav,” he says in a lower calmer voice, “So how long has this thing been goin’ on between you two?” “I don’t think that’s important right now,” Dean says. “Sexually or just in general?” I ask at the same time as Dean. He looks over at me and purses his lips, giving me a silent warning. I shrug my shoulders, it’s just Alex. People look down at him at this office just like the rich people at all of those catering events look down at me. He’s not gonna tell anybody. 

“Wait…there’s stages to this? Are you-are you two together-together?” Dean lets out a sigh and plops down into his chair. “Yes,” he breathes. That grabs Alex’s attention even more and he leans forward. “No fucking shit. I didn’t know you liked ‘em that young. So how long has this been going on, in general?” “Like eight months,” I tell him. His eyes widen and he nods his head, surprised. “I’ve known you for all your life, Mav, and you didn’t tell me about this girl for eight months?” 

Dean cracks a small, miniscule grin at his friend. “I haven’t met most of the women you’ve been with…or men.” Alex opens his mouth, closes it, and then opens it again. “You and I treat significant others totally different, so that doesn’t count. Now answer the damn question,” he says. Dean runs his hand through his hair and says, “I didn’t tell you because she was underage for most of the relationship. Less people that know the better.” 

Alex runs his hand over his chin with a smile on his face. “You sly son of a bitch,” then his eyes travel over to me, “You must be somethin’ special for this upstanding citizen to break the law over you. But I like you better than that bitch Liza, so I'm cool with it.” I give him a bright smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh. But guys, next chapter will have a lot going on so watch out for it. Hope you enjoyed!


	23. The Past Always Comes Back to Haunt Us

Saturday comes and we end up in Elmhurst where the twins live. It’s such an ugly name for a beautiful town. But it’s far as hell. We were driving for at least an hour or so. I step out of the car and stretch my legs. The house isn’t what I would think two people who’s father owns an electricity empire would live in. It’s nice, don’t get me wrong, but I was expecting something more extravagant. It's nice to be surprised, shows they're still two normal girls.

The driveway and house is made out of brick, and the walkway leading up to the house is littered with tall flowers and bushes. We climb the steps to the door and see a swing in the far end of the porch. Dean knocks three times on the door then tucks his hands back into his coat pockets. “This is why they didn’t ask us for any money. They can pay for it,” he says more to himself. 

The door opens to reveal Valencia with her growing baby on her hip. She’s gotten so big since the last time we’ve seen her. A bright smile is on her face as soon as she sees her father. “Daddy!” She yells while pushing the screen door open. Dean steps inside and engulfs both his daughter and granddaughter in a hug. While they hug, I get the chance to look around the place. I can see Valerie and Liza in the kitchen getting dinner prepared, while Marlon and Brendan and a new girl sit in the living room. Must be Brendan’s girlfriend or something. 

Marlon comes over to give his dad a hug while Valencia comes over to give me a hug. “Hey, Bryn! It’s great to see you again,” her voice is muffled by my hair. When we part, a genuine smile is on her face that brings a smile to mine. “Good to see you, too. How old is she now?” I ask while tickling Roslyn’s belly. She giggles and ducks her head into her mom’s neck. “She’ll be one at the end of the month. Can you believe it?!” My eyes widen. I didn’t know it’s been that long. 

Marlon comes over to greet me with a shy smile. “Hey, Bryn,” he mutters. I give him a smile and bump fists with him. When we all get our coats off, we go into the living room where Brendan and his girlfriend are sitting. Dean and his oldest son’s eyes meet and they stare each other down. It’s like some kind of old school Western movie that’s going on between the two with this staring. Dean breaks it and looks over at the girl. 

“Who’s this?” He asks. Brendan sits back on the sofa and puts his arm around the brown haired girl. “This is Therese. Therese, this is Dean,” Brendan introduces. Oh Lord. Therese smooths out her skirt before she gets up to shake his hand. “Hi, Mr. Maverick. It’s nice to finally meet you,” she says cheerily. Dean shakes her hand with a polite smile. “Hello, Therese. I’ve never heard of you before. How long have you been seeing my son?” He asks. Therese looks down at Brendan in a side ways glance. “For about five months. That’s surprising since he’s already met my parents.” 

Dean’s eyes widen. “He’s met your parents? Wow.” Brendan stands up and walks away. “Dean, we need to talk.” Dean rolls his eyes and lets out a loud breath, but follows his son down the hall. Therese looks confused at their departure. “What’s wrong with them?” She asks. We all take seats and shrug our shoulders. “If you stay around long enough, you’ll see that’s just them,” Marlon says. Valencia shakes her head at her brother and he just shrugs his shoulders. 

Valerie and Liza finally emerge from the kitchen. Valerie comes over to give me a hug, but then looks around the room confused. “Where’s Daddy?” She asks. “Him and Brendan are being drama queens,” Valencia tells her sister. Valerie rolls her eyes. “Already?” 

“Don’t worry about them. Come on, the food’s ready,” Liza says while ushering us into the dining room. I take the seat next to Valerie and Marlon takes the seat next to me. Liza takes one look at me and says, “Oh, so I see you’re back.” Valerie scoffs next to me and I grip the bottom of my seat. “We actually invited her to our house, Liza. Are you just mad that we didn’t want Isaac here? Oh wait, he dumped you, right?” Valencia says. All the siblings around the table start to giggle and laugh. Damn, this family is fucked.

Liza’s face reddens and her lips purse. “He did not dump me for your information, Val, but we mutually agreed to part. And at least I had a man with me when I started having kids,” Liza retorts back. The whole table goes silent. To be honest, this bitch is too old to be throwing insults like that to anyone, let alone her own daughter. And that just had to be the time when Dean and Brendan come back in. They both look like they each have something to say to Liza. 

“What did you just say to my daughter?” Dean beats him to it. Liza backs up to cross her arms to her chest defensively. “You mean our daughter. I am the one who went through the work pushing her out.” “Yes, but I’m the one who got you there. And the way you’re talking is as if she’s someone from the street. Don’t you ever talk to any of them like that again, understand?” 

A slight smirk comes across Liza’s face. “Well guess who grew a set of balls. But I guess it’s as to be expected when you disrespected me in front of them when they were kids.” Dean smooths back his hair in frustration. “You have a selective memory, Liza, because it was you who disrespected me. Have you ever stopped to think why Valencia always came to me for stuff? It’s because you’re just so mean, Liza. You are a mean person.” 

Valencia clears her throat and slowly stands up. “Umm, I think this is a conversation that does not need to be heard in front of all of us,” she says while ushering them over to the back porch. They comply and close the door behind them. “Why isn’t anyone eating? Eat!” Valerie squeals while placing strips of the pork roast on everyone’s plate. We all get settled in our seats. It’s awkward the whole time they’re out there.

“So what’s this thing between you and Dad?” Marlon asks his older brother. Brendan rolls his eyes while ripping his dinner roll into tiny little bread pieces. “He blames every bad thing on me that happens in the company. I’m fuckin’ tired of it, dude.” “Well you did make him miss out on a one hundred million dollar business deal,” Valencia mutters.   
“Oh piss off, Val. You’re always on his side,” Brendan mutters. 

 

The rest of the night goes by smoothly. The twins show me around the house, and they show me the downstairs where their ginormous Dance Dance Revolution machine is. We get a few quick games in before we go back up stairs. 

“This is a nice place. Why’d you guys move all the way out here?” I ask the twins when they show me Roslyn’s nursery. “Thanks! We’re actually in the process of starting out a boutique close by with some friends. It’ll just be easier to get back and forth to the store,” Valerie explains. I nod my head; jeez this little girl’s bedroom is better than mine! “That’s cool.” “Yeah, let’s get back to the living room.”

“Hey, where are all your friends?” Marlon asks while leaning back on the sofa. They both scoff. “We’re having a separate party next week for that reason alone,” Valencia says. He crosses his arms but doesn’t say anything else. 

“Well, I guess it’s about time to head out,” Dean says while getting up. “No, Daddy stay a bit longer,” Valencia whines as she wraps her arms around his waist. Dean smiles and kisses her hair. “Yep, there’s been a lot more work to do lately.” Brendan rolls his eyes. “Well, okay if you say so,” she mumbles while letting him put on his coat. 

“Oh! And before you leave, Daddy, I need you to babysit Roslyn Tuesday,” Valerie says so sweetly, so, so sweetly. He purses his lips, but we all know he’s not going to say no. “Okay sure,” Dean mumbles. She squeals and pulls him in for a hug before letting him go. The twins and Marlon give me a hug and Brendan offers me a wave. 

“You will never have to go to a family gathering of mine ever again, I promise,” Dean says when he opens up the door to the condo. I let out a breath and hang our coats up in the hall closet. “Yeah, I think I’m done with that,” I say. “If I had the choice, I wouldn’t go to my own family gatherings.” 

 

The next day is Sunday and there is literally nothing to do. Dean had to fly to Ohio for some “pressing business” and all my friends have lives to take care of. These are one of the few days that Mom doesn’t have to be at work. 

“I’m surprised you’re here for this long,” Mom mutters as she emerges from the laundry room. My eyes roll on their own. “The only person that can actually count as a resident of this home is Renee. Sooo.” “I work, Tambryn. What’s your excuse for not being here? And what’s up with this car in my driveway?” Better limber up, ‘cuz this is about to be an argument. We do that a lot lately.

“I told you, I won it in a company contest. You should be happy since now I don’t have to depend on anyone to get to work after school. And I already agreed to help get Renee around. So what’s your problem?” She slams the laundry basket down on the hall table and looks over at me. “The problem that I have with you, Tambryn, is that there is something going on and I just cannot for the life of me put my goddamn finger on it. That’s my problem!” I freeze. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say while making my way over to the steps, and of course she follows me. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, that’s why you’re running away. You’ve been acting different for months now. Talk to me, Tambryn. That’s all I want from you,” I can see tears welling up in her eyes. She’s confusing me. “You think after all of that I’m going to talk to you? Stop being mad at me because I have more things going on in my life now,” I turn around and start up the stairs. “I just wanna be involved in your life and you won’t even let me in!” Psh, she won’t be able to handle the things in my life. 

 

“Am I gonna have to be the one that has to drive us around from now on? Because I have to tell ya, I’m not feelin’ this,” I had detention this afternoon and I need to drop off Lily and Benny before going into work. Perfect timing, I tell ya. 

“Suck it up, buttercup. This is what I had to deal with when I was the only one who had a car. Mine is in the shop and will stay there until I get the money to pay for it which can be when I’m thirty. So yeah, you’re the new chauffeur,” Benny mumbles with his feet on the dashboard. No this asshole didn’t. 

I slap his calves until he sets his feet down. “You guys are making me late for work,” I whine. “Oh shut it, Bryn. You’re fuckin’ the boss. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re VP of that company by next month,” Lily retorts from the back seat. We’re at a red light so I have time to reach back there and poke her stomach. Before she can say anything, I point my finger at her and say, “Puke and you die.” She shuts her mouth and leans back in the seat with a pout. Tough titty. 

I drop them off in front of Lily’s house before making a U-turn back into the city. Benny is just gonna have to walk. 

“Hey, Bryn! Can you drop these files off in Maverick’s office for me? I gotta head out,” One of the mail room dudes stuff a thick pile of folders filled with papers into my arms. “Okay yeah,” I drop my stuff off on my desk before knocking on Dean’s door. “Hey, I have some mail room…mail for ya,” I say to the door. “Great, come on in,” he says.

I open the door to see that there’s another man in here. The other dude turns around and my face drops. “Tambryn, this is Clark-” I interrupt Dean to say, “Yeah, I know who he is.” Clark stands up with a confused look on his face. Really? “Oh, is that so? Where have we met?” He holds out his hand for me to shake. 

It’s been over ten years, but I can still point out the dude who left me, my mom, and Renee a mile away. “Are you serious? You really don’t recognize your own daughter? Like, how many Tambryns do you know in this world?” The polite smile disappears from his face and his hand drops from the air when he finally recognizes me. That’s an expensive suit he’s sporting, must’ve done good for himself. 

“Tambryn, I-it’s been so long,” he says, taking a step forward. I take a step back. “Nah, you can save that bullshit for somebody else, Clark. If you cared, you would’ve come to the same exact house that you left us in.” His eyes travel down and then over to Dean. “Maybe we can do this another time?” He says. Dean nods his head, not knowing what to do. Clark takes one look at me before walking out the door. He really thinks he can do that twice in one lifetime? I see why Mom gets so mad when I walk away from her. 

“Why are you walking away, Clark? Is that the only thing you know how to do?!” I yell at his back. Everyone on the floor stops to look at me. He stops walking and turns around to face me. “Bryn, baby, I would love-” “Don’t call me that! Don’t you call me that as if you and I go way back!” I look around the room and they’re still staring. I turn to them and say, “So this dude is one of you now, huh? A rich douche bag? Well guess what, he left me and my sister twelve years ago to be with a stupid bitch that you’re probably not even with anymore. Are you?” Clark looks like he would love to be anywhere else but here, and I just love it. He shakes his head no. 

I laugh because of the irony. “You left your whole family for a girl you’re not even with anymore! Fuck you, Clark! Fuck you!” I can feel tears welling in my eyes, but I will them to dry back up. I refuse to cry in front of this piece of shit. “Give me a chance and I can explain everything. You were so young back then, I-I couldn’t talk to you like I can now. Just give me a chance,” he pleads. My anger from his words make any desire to cry shrivel right up. 

“Give you a chance? You want me to give you a fucking chance? Fuck that!” The first thing that comes into my eyesight is a stapler sitting on the table. I grab it and throw it right at Clark’s chest. He backs away and sprints to the elevator. I pick up the pitcher and throw it but I miss and it smashes on the elevator doors right next to him. They close before I can throw anything else at him. The sign that points to the stairs looks very promising right about now. I take off my heels and run towards them. But arms and hands grab me up. I look up to see that it’s Alex and Dean. 

I kick and kick until they let me down. “Calm down, Tambryn,” Dean says, his eyes are exceptionally wide. What the hell?! I’m the one that needs to calm down? I start slapping him on the chest until Alex gets me away from him. “And why the hell were you talking to him?” Dean looks confused all of a sudden. “He was trying to get me to put stocks in his company. I didn’t know that was your father, Tambryn.” 

My breath comes out harsh as I look around the big room. Everyone is still looking at me. “All right, nothing to see people. Get back to work so I don’t have to do it,” Alex yells. “Oh fuck you, Walker, you don’t do anything!” Someone retorts. I walk back to my desk to get the rest of my things before walking to the elevator. “Tambryn, wait!” Dean’s all of a sudden next to me. “What?” “Princess, I didn’t know that was your father. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t have any desire with working with him anymore.” There must be no one around for him to be calling me that. 

The elevator doors open and I get in. Dean’s eyes only get that blue when we’re fucking, when he’s angry, or when he’s desperate. He must be desperate because they are glowing. I reach into my pocket to pull out the car keys and toss them to him before the doors close between us. I’m back to my old self, taking the train and walking…the way it should’ve been all along. 

“You’re home early,” Mom says from the couch. I don’t say anything and that’s a clear red flag for her. “What’s wrong?” She asks all mom-like. I shouldn’t have turned around, that was a mistake because now she can see it in my face. “Baby, what’s wrong?” She’s too quick and wraps her arms around me. Everything starts flashing back at me, Clark leaving twelve years ago and then the whole thing from today. It’s just too much and I collapse in her arms and just let it all out. 

Twelve years of crying that I let sit inside of me just starts pouring out all at once. Mom doesn’t say anything; she just rocks me back and forth on the floor. Even Renee doesn’t say a thing when she walks around us to get upstairs. 

When there’s nothing left, I lift my head up from her neck and sit back on the first step. “You wanna talk about it?” She asks. Should I tell her about Clark? If he’s here and if he’s as rich as he looks, she’s bound to run into him at one of her catering events. “If I-if I tell you, promise not to ask anymore questions and just take what I give you,” I stutter. She lets the deal roll over in her head before saying, “Promise.” I nod my head and get myself up, walking up the steps. It’s good to have a good head start on her. 

“Clark’s here,” I say before running up to my room and locking the door. “Wait, what!?” But it’s too late. I’m not coming out of this room for the rest of the night. Maybe even for the rest of the year. 

When I get my phone out of my pocket, it shows that I’ve missed over a dozen calls all from Dean. This day has drained me dry, there’s nothing else to do but sleep. When day comes…I’ll think about dealing with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it!


	24. Make Up

It’s been about three weeks since…the incident. And it’s also been three weeks since I’ve seen Dean. The first two weeks Dean would call and text me, me not answering neither form. And now this week. He’s found out a different form of communication.

“And he wanted me to tell you that he misses you and loves you, and he hopes to talk to you soon,” Dovett reports in a monotone voice as he looks at his nails. I shake my head as I flip through a magazine from the coffee table. 

“Look, why don’t you talk to him yourself? What’s the worst that can happen?” Robbie growls from the floor, he’s playing an intense game of Resident Evil. He’s been getting killed by the same zombie at the same damn spot for the past ten minutes. I know exactly which weapon he should use, but I refuse to tell him. “The worst that can happen is me telling him how much I hate him,” I flip the page of the GQ Magazine extremely loud so Robbie can hear. 

“I don’t even know why you’re so mad at him. How the hell was he supposed to know that was your dad?” Benny asks. He’s in Dove’s kitchen eating a Twinkie. Now that I don’t have my sweet, beautiful Camaro anymore, Benny has to drive me around in his mother’s car. 

Dove points at the asshole stealing his Hostess treat and says, “If that Latin hunk over there defends Dean, then you know he’s speaking the truth!” Benny gives me a big smile with white filling spilling over his lips. I snort; he’d die if he saw himself right now. 

I set down the magazine and look at Robbie get killed again. “Dammit!” He yells at the screen. “I wouldn’t even know what to say to him.” “Umm, what about, ‘I’m sorry for acting like a total Tambryn. I should be mad at my dead beat dad and not you.’ That sounds like a wonderful start. Doesn’t it, guys?” Benny and Robbie grunt in agreement. 

Humph…maybe and just maybe, they’re right. “I’m allergic to that word,” I scoff. “That’s part of the problem. You have too much pride, lover. Just talk to him, already. I know you miss getting dick whenever you want it. Trust me, I should know,” Dove’s eyes wander over to Robbie. It’s like Robbie can sense his boyfriend’s eyes on him because he shakes his head. “It was Finals week, Dove. Jeezus let it go.” 

“I’ll talk to him when I wanna talk to him,” I huff. “Okay, but don’t be acting all salty Friday when you don’t have a Valentine,” Dove teases. I forgot about Valentine’s Day. “There’s always next year.” 

 

“Well, I haven’t seen your dad at any of the events,” Mom says as she walks through the door. Ugh, does she have to call him that? “That’s a good thing, ain’t it?” Mom plops down on the recliner with a wine cooler in hand. She hasn’t gone upstairs yet, so she still has on her white button down shirt and black slacks. “It’s a great thing,” Mom mumbles before gulping down most of it. 

“How long do you guys think he’s been here?” Renee asks. My mind wanders to other things; I don’t even wanna know the answer to that. “That bastard’s probably been here the whole damn time. Just been dodgin’ us,” Mom answers. And that is the exact answer I was trying to avoid. 

 

“He also wanted me to tell you that he loves you and he bought you Valentine’s Day chocolates for me to bring you, but I ate them because I was sure that you’d just throw it away in a fit of your pride,” Dove says. I slap his blonde head sideways. 

“What the hell, Dove?” I screech. He rubs the back of his head with a frown on his face. Well he brought it on himself. “You weren’t gonna eat it, and you know it, bitch.” I sit back on my headboard with a pout. “I might’ve,” it comes out as a mumble. Dovett drops the frown from his face and pokes out his lips in sympathy. 

“Just call him, lover. I know you miss him as much as he misses you. And to be honest, I’m getting tired of being the little communicating bird for him.” That makes me giggle for some reason. “I’ll think about it.” 

 

Mom and Renee went out for the day to some family party down state. She wanted me to go with her, but I just wasn’t feeling it today. The whole house will be empty until the early morning, knowing how my mom’s sisters are gonna keep her there forever. 

And since no one is here, I take up the opportunity to clean. This is a rarity because I don’t clean, refuse to clean. But there’s nothing to do today. That senior essay that’s due on Monday is already finished, A plus for sure. 

I turn on the light in my closet to see all of my clothes splayed across the unseen floor. Jeez, I should’ve done this first. There are piles of shoes in the corner, and the rest is just a jean and t-shirt blur. But then, that tie comes into sight. Shit, I just had to pick up that shirt! 

The clothes around me are completely forgotten about when my hand wraps around the silk tie. I lift it up to my nose and it still has the faint smell of his favorite cologne on it. Even though I’ll deny it till the day I die, but a slight smile comes across my face because of it. My hand reaches into my bra where my phone is and dials Dean’s number all on its own. I don’t even notice that I’ve called him until his voice comes over the phone.

“Tambryn?” His voice is low. Since I don’t even remember calling him, I don’t know what to say. “I uhh-I didn’t get the candy you bought me. Dove ate it,” and that’s all I can come up with. Dean lets out a light chuckle. “I figured he’d do that the way he kept staring at it. I’ll get you some more if you want.” 

There’s silence between us for a long while, but neither one of us wanting to hang up. “My uhh,” I clear my throat, “No one’s here, at my house if you want to come over.” Ugh, that was so bad. “Give me an hour, I’m in a meeting,” he says. “How are you on the phone, then?” “I was about to ignore the call, but when I saw it was you, I gave them a five minute break,” He explains.

My lips purse trying to keep the smile from coming forward. “Okay, see you in an hour,” I muffle. “Love you,” and then he hangs up. And that’s when I notice how much I’ve missed him. God, this hour needs to hurry the hell up. 

By the next hour, there’s a knock on the door. I’m still in my room cleaning up, but I drop everything and trample down the steps. God, please don’t let him hear that. I swing the door open and there’s my Deanie. He didn’t cut the beard off! “Can I come in?” He asks, pointing behind me. I step aside and let him in. “Yeah, yeah of course. Sorry.”

Dean steps inside and does his normal look around of things. My eyes scan down to his hands to see him holding a box of chocolates. Of course he did. “So where did everybody go?” Dean asks when he turns back around to face me. I grab him by the hand and lead him to the stairs. “My aunt was having a party down state. A party for no apparent reason, she just felt like it. But, I didn’t feel like going so I stayed here,” when I finish talking, we’re in my room. 

He sets the box of chocolates down on my desk before sitting on my bed. I walk over to him and he grabs me by the waist to pull me closer. “I’ve missed you so much, Princess,” he mumbles into my chest. My knees land on each side of his thighs so now we’re face to face. “I missed you, too,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry about what happened, I just didn’t know, Tambryn. I didn’t know.” He looks as if he’s been working a lot lately by the bags under his eyes…or are they because of him missing me? 

“You shouldn’t be apologizing, Dean. I’m the one that should be,” I get off his lap to sit beside him. “It was just seeing…him after so long just got me so fucking angry, man, that I would’ve snapped on an old lady he was helping cross the street. It was nothing against you. Well, kinda. It was like seeing you plot with the enemy. But I wasn’t fair with you, and I’m…sorry,” he listens to my whole explanation attentively. 

“Don’t be sorry, Princess. It’s understandable. I’m just happy that you’re talking to me again,” he says while running his hand through my hair. I look up at him through my eyelashes. “So you’re not mad?” Dean gives me a closed mouth smile. “Of course not.” A breath of relief comes from me. 

“So…Alex hasn’t set you up on any dates?” I ask him. He shakes his head. “No, him and I have just been moping around the office, missing you the whole time. He can’t find anyone in there to talk to anymore.” I crack a smile at that. Yeah, I kinda miss our conversations, too. “Have you been with anyone?” He asks as if he’s afraid of the answer he’ll get. 

I shake my head also. “No, what kind of woman do you think I am?” It makes his eyes brighten up as he hides his relief. I lean backward until my back meets the headboard and open my legs for him. He looks me up and down, thinking if it’s an invitation or not, and then slides between them. I wrap my arms around his neck and his lips crash onto mine. His tongue slips into my mouth and my lips wrap around it eagerly. His hum of approval vibrates through my body. I pull back a bit when he gets my shorts around my ankles. Dean has this look on his face as if he’s scared that he’s done something wrong. 

“Get on your back,” I tell him. He complies and lays flat on my bed, looking up at me. I kick my shorts until they’re on the floor and then reach up to unbuckle his black slacks. My hand grazes over the ever noticeable bulge, making him groan. When his pants are open, my hand goes in and wraps around his dick, pulling him out. Even in my hand, he’s still growing and I take a moment to just watch. Dean supports himself by his forearms so he can look down at me. When he’s fully hard, my tongue slides out to lick his balls all the way up to the tip. Moans are already coming from above. 

When I get to the top, my mouth widens and is soon filled with Dean. His fingers rake through my hair, pulling me down even more. My hand starts to move across what can’t fit in my mouth and a rhythm starts up. His head falls back from it, but his hand is still pushing me down, his hips are working, too. And just like the first and second time, there’s a build up of precome in the back of my throat, making me swallow around him. Dean’s grip tightens in my hair as he rasps, “Use your tongue, baby.” My jaw aches a bit from widening my mouth to get my tongue over my teeth and moving on him, but I make it work.

A groan rings out from above. I pull off soon and just stroke him, a girl needed some air. After my heart is done thumping in my chest, I suck him back into my mouth. “No, Princess. Come up here,” Dean grumbles. My tongue flicks in his slit before I obey him and crawl up his body. He pulls me down and forces my mouth open with his. And all he does is lick into my mouth; I guess just tasting himself there, the weirdo. “You taste like my cum,” he moans in approval. I roll my eyes, this guy. “Can we fuck now?” 

“I don’t know. Are you sure you can refrain from hitting me?” He asks. Oh, Lord. “My hand was all over your dick, Dean. I think I can control myself.” There’s a grin on his face as he sets me on the bed while he gets up and walks to my closet. “What are you doin’?” I ask him. He disappears into my closet and all that can be heard are the sound of hangers moving. “Get undressed,” is all that he says. I strip out of my tank and panties, waiting on him. He finally reappears with his tie in hand. My eyebrow arches in confusion. 

“Stand up,” he says. My feet meet the ground and he walks over with a growing smile on his face. “To make sure you don’t hit me, I want your hands tied,” he says against my lips. My eyes widen. Like…bondage? That’s what it’s called, right? “Tie me to what?” I ask. Dean walks till he’s right behind me and puts my wrists together. “To nothing. They’re just going to be tied to your back,” he explains. “That sounds like a whole lot more work for me,” I grumble. The breath he lets out because of his laugh spreads across my back and it makes me shiver. 

The knot is tight, but not too tight as to cut off my circulation. Dean comes back around and steps back to admire me from the front. “Happy?” I mutter. His eyes are stuck on my boobs. This dude has seen more boobs than I have and he’s still staring like it’s his first time seeing a pair. Men. 

“I will be in a minute,” his voice is muffled as he quickly sheds his suit. Layer upon layer just flying around the place as more skin begins to show. When he’s finally in the nude, Dean sits down on the floor with his back to my bed. What the hell is he doing? Dean pats his lap and says, “Get on.” My eyes narrow on him. How?! He rolls his eyes at me the more impatient he grows. “Use your leg muscles, Tambryn. I know you have them to dance.” I roll my eyes since he rolled his at me and plant my feet on either side of his thighs before squatting down on him. Dean’s hands are on my hips, helping lead me down. My bottom lip finds its way between my teeth as I sink down on him. 

His nails dig into my hips when he’s all the way in. “Dean?” I whisper and look up at him. God, how do eyes get that blue? “Yes, baby.” “I don’t know how to be on top, you never showed me.” His hand runs down my face soothingly before he answers me. “Oh baby, it’s not hard I promise. Just do whatever feels good and it’ll make me feel good.” 

I try to wrap my arms around his neck, but then I remember about my binds. Damn, this is gonna be hard. I take in a deep breath and then lift up and then plop back down, testing this position. He hits a totally different place inside of me and it makes me bite my lip even more. And he was right; just keep using the leg muscles. Soon, I’m bouncing on his dick with my head thrown back; his hands on my waist are keeping me from falling over. 

On every down stroke, it yanks a moan from my throat. God, we should’ve been doing this forever ago. The burning in my calves is starting to creep up, but the need to keep bouncing overrides the burning. “You feel so good, Princess,” Dean says right before there’s a wet suction on my left nipple. A moan gets caught in my throat and my eyes open to see Dean with his eyes closed and him trying to suck my whole tit into his mouth. Shit, I wish I could take a picture of this. 

The burning in my legs finally becomes too much for me and I just start grinding on him to get some sort of friction. Dean obviously doesn’t like it since he lands a slap on my ass. “I said ride me, not grind on me,” he grumbles before latching onto my other nipple. My mouth widens in surprise, but I do as he says and ride him. He’s such a caveman sometimes. 

Dean shifts a bit, driving him into a totally different direction inside of me. My eyes close and my mouth flies open, letting any and every sound fly out of it. I start bouncing on him profusely to get that feeling back and it brings me closer and closer to release. A wet POP sounds throughout the still air around us when he releases my nipple from his mouth. “You’re close aren’t you? Your pussy does this thing of squeezing the life outta me when you’re about to come,” his beard scratches the valley between my boobs as he talks. “It’s a shame you’ll never be able to feel what I’m feeling right now. Fuck, Tambryn. I’ve never fucked a girl that had a grip like yours.” My legs shake and I’m only able to bounce one more time before I fall on top of him and just let my orgasm wash over me. I feel it all the way down to my toes and then up again. I would literally sell my soul to have that feeling at all times.

“You didn’t come,” I mumble. “No I did not,” Dean agrees while plucking a pillow off my bed and lying it on the floor behind me. He puts his hands on my waist and manages to get on his knees while carrying me (my face was so close to smashing into the floor) and I end up with the side of my face on the pillow. The only thing supporting me are my knees. This is so nerve wracking with him able to see EVERYTHING all at once. His big hands cup my ass pulling the cheeks apart. “Would you let me fuck you in the ass?” He asks so, so curiously. Is this guy serious right now? “Can you just fuck me already? This isn’t the most comfortable position in the world,” I tell him while wiggling my ass. He grunts then says, “I guess you’re right,” and then he’s pushing back into me. 

Him getting in for the second time is the only time that he’s gentle. Now he’s just plowing through me like a fucking animal. “Feel so good,” he breathes on my neck. “No, Dean! Don’t-!” But I’m too late; he’s already bitten down into my neck. I really don’t feel like hearing Benny’s mouth for the next week. “Dean, stop. I never knew how bad I bruise until you came along,” I say. It’s getting harder to breathe with my chest in the floor and him fucking me from behind. He grumbles a ‘no’, biting and licking my neck continuously. I put my weight on my right shoulder to move my neck away from his mouth. All he does is move my hair from my neck and starts sucking from the other side, making more of a mess.

Man, this guy is persistent. I duck my head into the pillow, making my shoulder hit him in the mouth. Dean lets out a frustrated sigh before yanking me by the hair and pulling me back into his lap. My back flush with his chest. In this position, he has all the access to my neck that he can dream of and there’s nothing I can do about it without my arms. 

“You know this is counted as rape, right?” I ask him. His chuckle tickles my neck. “Would you like me to stop, Princess?” He asks, his hips stilling altogether. That warmth was starting to build up again, shit! “No, no, no. Keep going!” “Let me suck on your neck, then.” I huff, but the warmth is slowly slipping away and I don’t want that to happen. “Okay, okay, whatever. Just…keep fucking me,” I finally relent. His mouth closes over my neck and his hips start up again. 

I come for the second time and it’s way better than the first, if that’s even possible. “I have to-to come,” Dean sputters out. “Come, please I want it so bad,” ugh now he’s got me talking like that. “Where do you want it?” I bite my lip, wondering if I’ll sound too much like a whore. “Baby, I’m about to blow, tell me,” he pleads. “My mouth, in my mouth!” I yell. Dean pulls out of me and stands up in front of me, with the head of his dick leveled with my mouth. He leans down to smash our lips together; the sound of him jerking himself off is heard throughout the room. “Open your mouth,” he says hurriedly as his dick is back in my face. There’s a tight grip in my hair that seems to get tighter by the second.

I open my mouth and stick my tongue out, just waiting for it. The heavy groans from above are my only warning before the first of it lands on my nose. My eyes close out of reflex, and it’s good that it was because more lands on my cheeks and even my forehead before he redirects into my mouth. “Swallow it, baby. God, you look so pretty,” Dean moans. It’s so fucking thick and creamy and I swallow it all. 

Dean finally stops coming and clombers to the floor. The only way I know that is by the sound, I still can’t see. “Dean untie me.” “Sorry,” he says before untying my hands. Freedom! I automatically wipe my eyes so sight comes back to me. Then it finally registers what just happened. I slap him wherever there is skin showing: his face, his chest, well, mainly his face. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Dean asks as he backs away from my hits. “I said come in my mouth, not on my face, you douche bag!” “I haven’t come in a long time, Tambryn. Couldn’t really control it if I wanted to.” I shake my head and go to the bathroom. 

The recess lights turn on in the bathroom and the mirror shows how bad my face is. My jaw drops and Dean’s just there smiling. “What? You look pretty,” he defends. I grab a towel hanging on the rack and wet it. “I look like your slut, Dean.” He gives my cheek a kiss before walking over to the shower and turning it on. “I’m sorry, Princess. It seriously wasn’t my intention to do that to your face.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re buying me pizza, bitch.” “Whatever you want, baby.”

About an hour later, we’re on the couch watching TV and eating pepperoni pizza. “Dean, can I ask you something?” He sets the crust of the pizza back in the box and turns to me. I’ve never understood why people do not like to eat the damn crust. “You have kids, right? So what do you think I should do about my situation?” I ask him. 

He purses his lips, thinking. “I think you should do whatever you feel like you should do,” is the damn answer he gives me. I shake my head. “You gotta give me somethin’ better than that, man.” It’s quiet between us before he speaks. 

“Even though your situation is a little bit more serious than mine with Brendan, the root of it all is kind of the same. Brendan as a child always felt that I never paid any attention to him since he’s the oldest, which isn’t true. But ever since then, I’ve been trying to make it up to him because I love him. You may have not seen it since you were so mad, but Clark really does want to talk to you. And I think you should talk to him. If you don’t like what he’s saying then don’t talk to him ever again. But at least try,” Dean says. 

I let his words roll over in my head while I look down at my lap. It’s gonna be hard, but I know that I need to do this. “And one more thing?” I say. The left side of his lips quirk up. “What’s that?” “Can I get my car back, please?” That little quirk turns into a full blown smile. “Of course.” 

 

“My Tambryn’s back!” Alex yells when we get to the office. I spread my arms and just wait for him to pick me up in a big bear hug. And as expected, he picks me up and twirls me. “Alright you two, we’re at work,” Dean says as he walks past us. Alex huffs and sets me down on my own two feet. “No need to get jealous, Mav.” 

As the three of us walk to Dean’s office, eyes are all on me. Man, these guys are nosey. “So do you have his number in your files?” I ask when we get in his office. “You’re gonna call him?” Alex seems surprised. Well, I am too. But it needs to be done. 

Dean gives me an encouraging smile as he hands me the paper with Clark’s number on it. I take it and excuse myself from the room. My hand shakes as I stare down at the number. I close my eyes before any tears can spill over. He’s been gone for over ten years, there’s no reason for crying all of a sudden. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. 

“Hello, this is Clark.” My lips purse, my breath held back. “…Hello?” He asks again. It’s seriously surprising that I have nothing to say for the first time ever. He stays on the line a little while longer before the *click* sounds from over the phone. I end the call before that annoying buzz turns on. I take a deep breath before dialing his number again. 

“Look, if you’re not gonna say anything stop-” I interrupt him to say, “Clark, it’s Tambryn.” He inhales before saying anything. “Hey, Tambryn. How are you?” I smooth down my skirt and think of something to say. “Honestly, I’ve been better. But umm, you said you wanted to talk?” “Yeah, I was just in town for business, but I can push back the time to go back. Can you meet up on Saturday?” Clark asks, he even sounds a bit excited. 

“Yeah, at that Mariano’s by that blue building?” I agree. “I remember that place. Your mother loved the-”

“Bread,” I finish. He chuckles over the phone. “Yeah, the bread.” 

It’s quiet between us for awhile. “So, see ya Saturday,” I say before hanging up. I can finally breathe now. Dean comes out of his office, then, and walks over to me. “You called him?” He asks. I nod. Dean smiles and kisses the top of my head. “You’re doing a great thing, Tambryn. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!


	25. Whirlwind

I didn’t tell Mom and Renee that I was going to see Clark because of obvious reasons, of course. Mom would try to stop me, and Renee would want to go because she was too young to remember that day and how much pain it left. 

“Can you come in with me, please?” I whine while climbing into Dean’s lap in his Rover. He scoots back the seat so he can wrap his arms around my waist comfortably. “Mmm, this is between you and your dad. You have to do this on your own. Sorry, Princess,” he apologizes so sweetly. And to top it all off, he kisses the tip of my nose with a supportive smile. I groan and my head falls on his shoulder. 

Dean lets me lay on him a little while longer before he lightly slaps me on the ass. “It’s time for you to go in and it’s time for me to get back to the office,” he mumbles into my neck. I sigh but slide out of his lap. “This is fucking torture, dude.” 

“You haven’t even gone in yet,” Dean points out. I roll my eyes. “Oh, fuck off, Dean. You’ve never had to deal with this type of shit with your dad.” That may have been too harsh, but my nerves are bad, guys. I don’t do well under pressure. Dean’s eyes downcast to his lap, not knowing what to say. I take a breath and cover his hand with mine. 

“I’m sorry, Deanie. It’s just that I’m really nervous right now.” He offers me an understanding smile before kissing my lips. “I know, Princess. Just go make the best of it, okay?” I huff again, but nod my head. My eyes look up at the big brick building with green letters spelling out, Mariano’s, on top. I open the car door and walk into the restaurant. 

“Hello, table for one?” The black haired hostess asks. I shake my head and try to spot Clark. “Tambryn, over here!” I turn to my right to see Clark sitting at a table by the window. One more breath out and then I walk over to his table. He stands up with his arms stretched out as if he expected me to hug him, but then he remembers who I am and settles for a handshake. Smart move. I shake his hand and take a seat. 

“Havin’ a good day?” He asks. I shrug my shoulders and say, “Yeah, it’s alright.” He nods his head with a smile, thinking of something else to talk about. “Well, I uhh-I ordered our food already. You still like the turkey panini with the tomato basil soup?” I nod my head. He still remembers that? Clark has a relieved smile on his face at his memory. 

“Great, even at a young age, you had such an older palette when it came to food. Eating pesto at two. You still like pesto-?” 

“Clark, I didn’t come here to talk about food,” it came out like word vomit, but it’s true. The smile drops from his face and he looks down at the clean plate in front of him. 

With him not looking at me, I get a good chance to look at him. He’s wearing an expensive ass satin beige suit. His black hair is cut shorter from when I remember. There are wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes when he squints too hard. His dark skin shines in this lighting. Well, his skin always glowed. I’ve always loved his skin, but Renee and I got Mom’s caramel colored skin. 

The food comes during my assessment of Clark and thank God because I’m hungry as all hell. I look down at my plate and then over at his. All he got was a soup and salad. Dammit, why does my plate always look bigger than everyone else’s?! 

“I just wanted us to have our food before getting into all of this,” Clark answers while waving his hand around the place. I slice up the sandwich into elegant little pieces before taking a bite. My eyes flutter just by the taste. God, I haven’t had this damn sandwich in years.

“Now we have our food, can we talk now?” I ask him. He sighs and sets his spoon down in the bowl. “I think there’s a lot of things that you’d like to know, so it’d probably be better if you asked the questions. Go on, ask anything you’d like,” he says. I sit back, sandwich and soup forgotten at this moment. 

“What’s up with the suit?” I ask him. He looks taken aback by the question, must’ve been expecting something more invasive. 

“What do you mean?” He asks after recovering. 

I point at it and say, “The suit. It’s expensive. You couldn’t afford that twelve years ago, why can you afford it now?” 

He understands now and answers. “A few years ago I got hired by an oil company answering phones and what not. Long story short, I moved up in BP and now I can afford such suits like this.” 

My grip tightens on the leg of my chair. “So you’ve been having money for years and never thought about us? You know Mom is in serious debt because she started her own business since you left us with shit,” my voice raises a bit, but I get it under control.

His lips purse into a hard line and he looks out the window. 

“You’re absolutely right, Tambryn. But everything isn’t as black and white as you and your mother think it is.” 

My fist slams against the table making the glasses click and some heads to turn. “But you’re the fucking one who left us! What the hell are we supposed to think when you just left us?” 

“I wasn’t ready for a family, Tambryn!” His sudden loud voice makes me sink into my seat. Clark closes his eyes to get his temper under control. 

“I love all of you. You, your mother, Renee. I-I just couldn’t do it. The domesticity…that’s what your mother wanted. She was ready for kids, I wasn’t. And I felt terrible every single time I looked at you and Renee because I knew that I couldn’t be the father that you two deserved because I wasn’t even ready to be one. I was twenty-five when you were born, Tambryn, the prime of a young person’s life. And I know it sounds substantially selfish but it’s the truth. You think it would’ve been better if I had stuck around? No, it probably would’ve been worse because I’m not built to stay in one place; I wasn’t ready for a family at twenty-five. You all would’ve hated me for something else I did if I had stuck around. Was it the best thing to do? Absolutely not, but I just couldn’t stay there anymore.” 

Clark hesitantly grabs my hand and sets it in the middle of the table with his. I look up at him to see the sorrow in his eyes. 

“And even though it’ll never make up for all of the things that I’ve done…I’m so sorry, baby girl. You and Renee didn’t ask to be in this world and I put you at fault when it wasn’t your burden.” 

Tears start welling in my eyes and Clark notices. He gets up and ushers me to the back where the bathrooms are. They’re unisex so we both walk in. He grabs some tissue from one of the stalls and shoves it in front of my face. As soon as I see it, I wrap my arms around him and just let the tears flow. 

His arms wrap around me and he rubs my back, just letting me cry. “I’m so sorry, baby girl. I never wanted to hurt you,” he utters into my hair. 

After I’m cried out, I lightly push away from him and wipe the rest of the tears from my face. “That’s all I wanted to hear,” I tell him. He gives me a weak smile and holds the door out for me. We walk back out to our table before the waitress gets back and thinks we just ditched her. 

“So is there anything else you would like to know? Because there’s so much I’d like to ask you,” Clark says after taking a bite of lettuce. I roll my eyes internally. What is up with people on this health craze?

“Do Renee and I have any siblings since then?” I ask. Mom, Renee, and I have always wondered about that. Clark shakes his head with a smile. “No, no you don’t. You and Renee are my only babies.” I breathe a sigh of relief at that one. 

“What do you wanna know?” I ask timidly. Even though we had that heart to heart in the bathroom, doesn’t mean we’re sunshine and daisies, don’t ever think that. 

“Oh, there’s so much I wanna know. What business does your mother own? If my math’s correct, you’re eighteen, so what are your plans for after high school? What has my little Renee been up to?...Is your mother seeing anyone?” So many questions all at once. I try to remember all of them and answer all of them accordingly. 

“Mom runs a catering business called, Dark Cavern Catering. I don’t have any plans after graduation at the moment. Renee is a little weirdo. And no, Mom isn’t seeing anyone,” I answer, and I’m pretty proud of myself. 

It’s a lot for him to process and it shows in his face. “Well good for her, made something of herself. Boss of her own business, eh? You don’t have any plans, well what do you like to do?” Clark asks. 

Fuck, smoke weed, eat, and sleep. But of course I can’t say that to him. “I like to dance.”

His eyes widen with a smile. “Is that so? Why don’t you try to pursue that in college?” 

I shrug my shoulders and say, “I’m not even sure I want to go to college.” He doesn’t seem to like that answer, but he doesn’t push it since he’s already on thin ice. 

“You’ll find your calling soon, I’m sure of it. But uhh…” He trails off, looking uneasy all of a sudden. “What is it?” I ask. 

He takes a few more seconds before saying anything. “Do you think your mother would see me?” My eyebrows rise at that one. 

“I’m not sure. She knows that you’re here and wasn’t too thrilled when she found out that you were, so I really don’t know,” I tell him truthfully. Clark slumps back into his chair with a resigned sigh. 

“I figured. Can you talk to her for me?” He asks all hopefully. 

I sit back in my chair, he even knows that that will be close to impossible to do. Mom’s gonna do what Mom wants to do. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. She doesn’t even know that I’m here with you. Plus, her and I really aren’t on the best of terms right now. Haven’t been for awhile, actually,” I tell him. 

He nods his head, disappointed. “Yeah, I understand,” he looks down at our empty plates and bowls. “How did you get here, you need a ride home?” 

I shake my head. “Nah, my car’s actually a block away.” 

His eyebrows rise. “You have a car?” 

I nod my head proudly. “Yep, Camaro. What kind do you have?” 

“Tesla,” he answers. Yeah, he really did good for himself. 

“Okay well, I gotta head back home,” I say while rising from the chair. He gets up and takes out his wallet. 

“What about Renee, you think she’ll talk to me?” He asks while setting the money down on the table. We walk out of the restaurant together.

“Yeah, she will. I know that for a fact. But Mom will be in the way of that,” I tell him. 

Clark lets out an audible breath. “Your mother has always been, and will always be a stubborn woman.” 

I nod my head, not knowing what else to say to that. “Well, I should get going…” 

“Wait,” he calls out to me. I turn back around to face him. He doesn’t say anything, just stares at me. 

“You grew up to be so beautiful, Tambryn. I just wish I could've seen it happen,” he mutters while still staring at me. Before I can start crying again, I turn around and start walking the short block to my car. 

The next day in school, Mrs. Budois has us dancing like slaves…if slaves were forced to dance. Maybe they were, but anyway, usually we’ll do our warm-ups, dance, take a break, and then do another dance. But today, there has been no type of breaks, what the hell is a break? 

Classes at this school run for about half the day, depending on what you go to this school for. Like Benny and I go here for dance, so half the day we’re in dance class. Lily’s here for music, so half the day for her is spent in music class. 

The bell finally, thankfully rings to release us from this tight bind of a room. “Okay, class, we’re done for today! You all did great!” Mrs. Budois cheers from her seat on the wall with two other people we’ve never seen before.

Benny and I quickly grab our stuff and start walking out with the rest of the class. “Percy, Allen, and Tambryn! Can you all please stay after for a minute or two?” Mrs. Budois says right when my foot met the outside of the room. Benny looks at me with a cocked eyebrow as if I know what the hell this is about. 

I close my eyes for a second before walking back into the room and over to Budois and her other two companions. One is a man and the other is a woman. The man has short curly brown hair and is wearing a black turtle neck with the tightest pants that have ever been on this earth. The woman has her long brown hair tied tight in a bun and the first thing you notice about her is her wide ass jaw. But she’s still cute, and the way she carries herself, she knows that also. 

“You three might be wondering why these two have been sitting with me for the whole class, correct?” Mrs. Budois asks with a hint of excitement in her voice. We nod her heads. “And why we were dancing like rent is due tomorrow,” I add, but everyone still hears me. My teacher flashes me a glare while my peers cover up their laughter. 

“Anyway, this is Elle Chambers,” she motions to the tight bunned gal, “And Nelson Rosenberg all the way from the London Contemporary Dance School, all the way from England.” Yeah, like we didn’t get that. 

“Wait, were we being scouted?” Allen asks. Mrs. Budois nods her head ecstatically. 

“Yes! You three have been-well, I should let them explain that to you all,” she steps back and lets the foreigners talk. 

Elle and Nelson all take the time out to shake our hands before talking. “As mister Allen has already figured out, we are scouts looking for freshmen from all over the world to come to our school,” Nelson says to us. 

“What we just did was an audition?” I ask while pointing to the dance floor. They both nod their head with a small smile. 

“Yes, we find that young people work and audition better when there’s no pressure to impress. We would like to talk and have a little sit down with your parents about this matter,” Elle says. Whoa. 

“About what? About going to your school?” Percy asks. The scouts nod their heads. 

My head jerks back with this news. Wow, well I guess I found out what I may be doing after high school.

“We won’t be here long, as we are on a tight schedule. So we will have to set up a meeting with your parents within the week. Mrs. Budois will take care of you all after that if you all choose to come to our school. Did she tell you that she used to go to LCDS?” We all shake our heads, no. 

My breathing becomes faster; this is a lot of information to soak up at this time. Mrs. Budois steps up and says, “So why don’t you all head on out. And by the time you get home, your parents will already be notified about the matter and to come in for a meeting. Sounds good?” 

“Yes,” we all say together. They silently dismiss us and we leave the room. 

Lily and Benny are waiting for me at my locker when I get there. “So what the hell was that about?” Benny asks. 

I put in the combination into my locker before saying anything. “Those two people in our class were scouts from a school in London.” 

Benny’s jaw drops from surprise and Lily jumps up and down with excitement. “You had scouts?!” She screeches. I nod my head, closing my locker and putting on my light coat. “And they didn’t pick me?” Benny asks in astonishment. 

I roll my eyes and we walk through the school doors, heading for my car. “Anyway, they want to meet with my mom to talk about it.” 

“London, huh? That’s out of the country,” Lily says from the back seat. Benny and I both let out a breath. “We know, Lily,” we both deadpan. “No, I’m just saying. That’s so far away…” her voice trails off as she starts to think. And now that she’s put that thought in my head, that is pretty far. I’ve never been outside of the country. 

I step inside the house and no one’s here yet. They will be soon, though. I take one step at a time while dialing Dean’s number. 

“Hi, Princess,” he answers. 

“Hey, Deanie, do you need me to come to work tonight?” I ask him, kicking my shoes off and landing on my bed. 

“No, not needed. I’m going to be leaving out soon to head to my daughter’s boutique opening.” Earlier today’s events start spinning through my head; with Lily talking about how far England is and umm, being scouted! 

“Princess, you there?” Dean asks. I huff and say, “Yeah, I am.” 

“Alright, spit it out. I know something is wrong.” Ugh, he knows me too well. 

“I don’t wanna speak about it right now before anything happens. So umm-”

“Where’s my London girl?!” Mom yells from downstairs. 

“I gotta go, Dean. Love you,” and then I hang up and head to the stairs. 

Mom drops her duffel bag and wraps me into a huge hug. 

“What did they tell you?” I ask her when she lets me go. 

“They told me that you were picked to go to school in London and that they will be coming here later this week to finalize it and such,” she answers. 

What? My brows furrow. “What do you mean ‘finalize it’? I haven’t even thought this entire thing over!” I say. 

She shrugs her shoulders and finally takes her jacket off and hangs it on a hook. 

“Those people that you saw today are going all over the country to find new kids to go to their school, and you do graduate in like two months, honey. They’re trying to get you all on a plane as soon as possible,” she then turns to me, “But that’s if you choose to go that route,” Mom finishes. 

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno where this came from. I just started writing, and the idea to take Bryn somewhere else plopped in my head. Oh well. As always, hope you guys enjoyed :D


	26. Unexpected Visitors

“You’re gonna leave us, Bryn?!” Dove screeches. His big eyes seem even bigger now that I’ve told him the news. 

I pat his cheek before looking over at the cold blue, dirty lake. It’s mid March, so it’s still a bit chilly outside, especially close to the lakefront. 

“We haven’t even met with them yet, and I’m not even sure I wanna go,” I tell him. 

“Have you told Dean?” My head rolls back on the bench. 

“I’ve been trying to avoid telling him.”

“By doing what?” My inquisitive friend asks. I shrug my shoulders with a smile.

“Lots and lots of blowjobs. He knows there’s something up, but I just keep avoiding telling him every time.” 

Dovett turns to me with a teensy smirk on his face. 

“I’ve taught you well,” he says. 

My eyes roll all on their own and I sit back up. 

“Do you want to go to London?” 

My shoulders shrug up and down. “I dunno, man.” 

 

A few days later, there’s a knock on the door and Mom runs to the door, but doesn’t open it, yet.

“Is everything perfect? Renee, fix your shirt. Straighten your posture, Bryn, Jesus. You’re like that guy from Hunchback of Notre Dame,” she insults. My mouth opens at her words. 

“The hell’s wrong with my posture?”

Mom finally opens the door and puts on her biggest white picket fence smile as she does. 

“Hello and welcome to our home,” Mom says as she makes room for the scouts to come in. 

Renee and I stand up and wait for them to come into the living room. 

“How do you do? I’m Elle Chambers, thank you for welcoming us into your home, Miss…” Elle has her hair down now and there’s a lot of it. 

“Oh! I’m Georgia Caverly. Come, come, the dancer’s in the other room,” Mom ushers them in here with us. 

The scouts shake hands with my sister and me and then we all sit down. 

There’s a long silence before anyone says anything because Mom hasn’t sat her ass down yet and is making sure that the scouts have their tea. Tea that we have never drunk before, but she heard London and just brought the shit out. 

“So Tambryn, how long have you been dancing?” Nelson asks. 

I rub my hands on my thighs and say, “It’s been about five years, now.” 

Both of the scouts look surprised at this “revelation”. “Really? I would have never guessed anything less than ten years,” Nelson says. I look over at my mother and she has the brightest smile on her face. 

I don’t know what to say to that but, “Thank you.” Thankfully, they accept that. 

Nelson and Elle set down their tea cups on the table in unison, now I know we’re about to get down to business. 

“Tambryn, do you want to know why we want you to come to our school?” Elle asks. 

I shrug my shoulders. Man, I hate answering questions. 

“Because you thought I danced good?” It sounds like a question more than anything else. 

The two giggle at an untold joke, or maybe I’m the joke. Or is it their English humor? 

“While we can’t deny that your dancing is impeccable, that was only part of the reason. You three were actually picked out of that whole school, including other classes. But we chose you specifically because you bring something fresh to the modern dancing world. Anyone can be a good dancer, darling, but there’s just something about you when you dance as if that’s the only thing you have in this world.” 

Wow, I’ve never heard someone talk that way about my dancing. Mom makes eye contact and moves her hands in a rotating motion as if to tell me to say something. 

“Well, I’m glad you guys saw that in my dancing because that’s exactly how I feel. I really don’t know how to do anything else, so I thought there was nothing for me to do when high school ends,” I say truthfully. 

Elle and Nelson share a smile before looking back to me. 

“Well, it seems as if we came right on time. You actually have more time to think this over than originally thought since we now have seven other schools to go to across the country,” Elle says while pulling out all of these brochures of the London dance school. 

Mom sits next to me to look at all of the brochures, Renee even peeks her head at them. It looks like a nice school actually. 

“I don’t mean to be rude, but how much does this school cost?” Mom asks. 

“That’s an obvious question for a parent. But hopefully if Tambryn chooses to come to our school, the tuition will be free, and so will her housing,” Nelson answers. 

Mom leans in close and says, “Now you really have to go.” I give her a look before looking back at the scouts. 

“So how much time do I have to think about this?” I ask. 

Elle takes out her planner to check out something before giving me an answer. “You graduate next month, correct? Classes start in the fall and since you live so far away, we will need an answer no later than May thirtieth.” 

I take in a deep breath at that answer. Geez. 

They leave shortly after, since they had to head to Texas for another school scouting. 

Mom closes the door and turns around to give me a gigantic smile. “So…what did you think?” She asks. I really don’t know what to think. I have two months (more or less) before I have to give them an answer. Two months to give a life changing answer. 

Before I have a chance to give an answer, there’s a knock on the door. Mom looks bewildered and says, “More visitors?” 

She opens the door and it’s…Clark. Mom’s shoulders automatically tense. “Shit,” I mutter. 

“Who’s that?” Renee whispers. Oh yeah, of course she wouldn’t remember her own father. He left when she was two. 

“Our dad,” I answer. 

There’s silence everywhere, an awkward and tense one at that. Mom finally gets out of the daze that she’s in and just lunges at him. Punching, slapping, kicking, everything. And I don’t even try to stop her. He deserves it, no matter what he said at the lunch we had, he still deserves whatever she gives him because he left her with two young kids. 

“You deadbeat asshole! You have no right; you have no right to be here!” Mom yells while still delivering the blows. 

“Georgia, Georgia, stop!” Clark yells while trying to get her away from him. His eyes travel over to me, silently asking me to stop her, but umm, Mom never left us sooo.

“Should we stop her?” Renee asks me. I shake my head no. 

When Mom runs out of fight, she stops hitting Clark to catch her breath and will the man in front of her dead just by her stare. 

“Why are you here?” She hisses. 

It seems as if that beating did a number on him, also, if his heavy breathing is anything to go by.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he says simply. 

Mom straightens her posture after her breath is back. “Oh now you want to talk to me? After twelve years you wanna talk to me? No! Fuck no! The world doesn’t revolve around you, Clark! So no, we won’t talk!” 

“Then let me talk to Renee,” Clark says while pointing to my sister. I look down at her and she looks stunned. 

Mom looks back at Renee and then whips her head back to the dude. 

“No! She doesn’t wanna talk to you,” she steps back into the house and tries to shut the door, but Clark’s foot stops the door. He gets the door back open and Mom takes the chance to slap him across the face again.

“Are you picking your favorite? Why don’t you wanna talk to Bryn, also?” Mom asks. 

Clark makes eye contact with me, but he should already know that I wasn’t telling her about our little meeting. 

“’Cuz I’ve already talked to her,” he says. 

Mom does that slow turn around that you see in the scary movies to look at me. 

“And when was this, Tambryn?” Oh, shit. She has that too calm voice popping off. There’s no reason to be mad at me, man.

“Don’t be mad at her, Georgia. I wanted to talk to her. Now let me in,” his patience seems to be wearing, also. 

“For what? So you can say you’re sorry, and then leave us again? I’m not gonna make that mistake for a second time,” Mom retorts.

Clark shakes his head and then looks down at the ground. With them arguing, it’s actually letting in all the damn cold from outside. “It’s not even like that,” he mumbles.

“Then what is it then? ‘Cuz you’re damn sure not living here.” 

“Can we just get my side of the story, Georgia? Goddamn it!” 

Mom tenses up again, ready to tussle. But before she can say anything, a scream rings out. We all look down and over at Renee. 

“If you would like to talk to me…I’d like that,” she says in the softest voice I’ve ever heard her utter. Mom looks like she just got betrayed and Clark has a wide smile plastered on his face. 

“Yes, I’d love that, baby girl,” Clark takes that as his cue to take a step into the house. Mom lets him, but she doesn’t like it. 

Renee and Clark go into the living room and Mom and I sit in the kitchen…appropriate distance. 

“So when did you meet with him?” She says the last word with so much venom. I let out a breath. 

“Like a few days ago. No big deal,” I say.

“It must be a big deal since you felt that you couldn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d have a problem with it.” 

There’s a silence between us while we look on at the two in the living room. We can’t hear what they’re saying, but they both have a smile on their face. 

“What did he say to you?” Mom asks after awhile.

I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing much. Just that he was sorry that he left us.” 

She snorts at my answer. “Took him over a decade to admit that shit?” I don’t respond, so we just sit in silence. 

“Are you gonna talk to him?” I ask her after getting the cookie dough ice cream from the fridge. 

She shrugs, taking the spoon from me to get some dessert of her own. “I might as well, because there’s still more I wanna yell at him for.” 

I dip my finger into the ice cream carton to pick out a chunk of cookie dough and Mom slaps my hands with the spoon. 

 

Soon, Renee and Clark emerge from the living room and come into the kitchen. 

“It still looks the same, but it’s still so different from when I remembered,” He says while looking around. 

“You wanna finish reminiscing or you ready to talk?” Mom asks him. The small smile that was on his face before has dropped since. He nods his head and motions for the living room. 

“No, down here,” Mom says while opening the basement door. Damn, she knew we were gonna eavesdrop. 

“So what he say to you?” I ask Renee as she climbs on top of the kitchen table, placing her feet on the chair in front of her. 

She shrugs her shoulders. “He wanted to know what’s been going on since he left. Telling me about his travels, the people he’s met, and where he lives now.”

Humph, that’s something Clark and I didn’t get to talk about last time. “Where does he live, exactly?” I ask.

“Seattle.” Seattle? I didn’t know what place to expect, but Seattle? There’s nothing wrong with that place, but…I don’t know, just wasn’t expecting that.

“You like him?” 

She shrugs again and says, “Yeah, he seems cool. What about you? What do you think of him?” 

What do I think of him? Now it’s my turn to shrug. “I dunno. He’s making an effort, I guess.” 

I look down at my phone to see that it’s a little after five. “Hey, tell ma I’m going out, alright?” I say while grabbing my bag and heading out to my car.

 

A little while later, I end up at Dean’s house…well, I just got off the elevator, so I’m on the floor. The closer I get to his door, it’s clear that there’s an argument going on inside. The door has been left ajar, but I can’t see anyone inside, just hear the voices.

“You make me look like a fool in front of our kids!” Liza yells. 

“You don’t need any help making yourself look like a fool in front of them,” Dean retorts. 

“They fucking worship you and don’t even know the real reason about our divorce just so you can be the favorite parent! It’s not fair!”

“The reason why we got a divorce is because you wanted one, Liza! What other reason is there?!” 

“Because you cheated on me, Dean! That’s why I left you! You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants and I had enough of it. But we can’t tell that story to the kids, right? We have to keep up the façade of you being the good one,” Liza says. 

“Don’t act like you didn’t play a part in why I cheated. You’re just a bad person, Liza. And why would I want to be with a bad person? There’s other ways to betray a person other than cheating on them, and you should know since you’ve mastered every one of them. You probably did cheat on me, too, but are just better at hiding it.” 

High heels start clacking on the hardwood floor and they get louder and louder. Oh, shit! I look to my left and my right, but there’s nowhere to hide. I’m too big to hide behind the bamboo plants. 

“I don’t need to hear this shit from you,” Liza says as she opens the door. I can feel my eyes widen like that expression, deer caught in headlights, it’s so fucking embarrassing. Liza gives me an ice cold smile as she opens the door fully for Dean to see who she’s looking at. Dean stops to stare at me, also. 

Liza turns back to him and says, “Now I know why we never worked out,” she steps out into the hallway and walks backward, still talking to Dean, “The love of your life wasn’t born yet.” And then she turns around and makes her way to the elevators. 

Dean huffs and waves me in. Right when the front door closes, I start apologizing. “I’m so sorry. I know I should’ve called, but-”

“It’s okay, she came over without calling,” Dean says as he takes a seat at the breakfast bar. I take the seat next to his. 

“Why did she come over?” I ask. 

He shakes his head and says, “It started out about Marlon’s behavior and then the angrier she got, the more she started talking about irrelevant stuff,” he turns my way, “But enough of that, what brings you here?” 

I shrug and look down at the granite counter top. I still don’t know how to tell him about London. 

“Just felt like it, I guess,” I mumble. Dean ducks his head so his face is now in my line of sight. 

“Tambryn, I know something’s been bothering you for quite sometime, can you tell me what’s wrong?” 

Those scouts told me I have until May to give my answer and it’s just March, so I’ll have time from now to tell him about it and to give Elle and Nelson my final answer.

“You never told me that you cheated on Liza,” I say. Dammit, changing the subject has become second nature lately.

Dean sighs before saying, “That’s because I didn’t want you to think that I’d do that to you.”

My shoulders slump a bit. I wasn’t expecting that answer. I kiss his cheek and Dean looks up at me. 

“She’s a bitch, so I wouldn’t have cared,” I say. He cracks a smile at that and crashes his lips onto mine. 

“Can you answer my question since I’ve answered yours?” Dean asks when we break apart. 

I slide onto my knees between Dean’s legs, mouthing at his crotch. He groans and says, “Don’t get me wrong, I love how much head you’ve been giving me, but you can’t do this every time I ask you the same question.”

I lean back to pull his sweatpants and boxers down. “I’m not avoiding anything. Is there a law against me wanting to have your dick in my mouth?” Dean’s mouth opens, and then closes before his head falls back with a groan. 

Just when my hand reaches into his pants, Dean pulls me back up onto my feet. “Talk to me, Tambryn,” he says. A breath leaves me; I’m not getting out of it this time. I walk over to the sofa and Dean follows me.

“Is it bad?” He asks when he sits on the other side of the couch. I cross my legs and look at him, getting an idea. Just a little joke, since he’s preparing for the worst anyway. 

“I’m pregnant.” And the look on his face is better than I imagined. It takes everything in my being to not burst into laughter. Man, I really should have been in drama. 

There’s nothing but silence surrounding us for the longest of times. “I’ll do whatever you want to do,” he says in a soft voice. My lips poke out. Aww. I love this guy. 

I reach over to touch his leg. “No, Dean. I’m just joking,” I tell him. His face drops and he just looks bored all of a sudden. My head leans back with how hard I’m laughing now. 

“That’s not funny. And now you still have to tell me what’s wrong,” Dean says as he leans back with his arms crossed. My laughter soon dies off and there’s nothing funny after that.

My eyes downcast to see how bad my hands are shaking in my lap. “A uhh-” I clear my throat, “A few days ago when I was in class, there were these people from a college in London. They were looking for- umm, they were looking for new students to go to their school. They kind of…picked me to go to their school.” 

Silence engulfs us for a second time, but this time it’s worse. I finally chance it and look up at him. Dean’s not even looking my way. 

“Dean?” I ask.

His stormy blue eyes flicker my way. “Hmm?” 

I shrug my shoulders and say, “Say something.” 

He takes a moment to breathe before answering me. 

“You said that you didn’t know what you were going to do after high school. I guess you know now, right?” 

I shrug again. “I dunno, my mom wants me to go. But I’m not sure.”

“What aren’t you sure about?” Dean asks. 

“Do you think I should go?” I ask him.

He purses his lips. “This isn’t my decision to make, Tambryn.” I sink back onto the armrest. No more ‘Princess’? 

Dean breathes again before moving over to my side and putting me in his lap. My legs wrap around his waist and he ducks his head so our foreheads touch, making it impossible for me to look at anything else other than at him.

“Don’t cry, okay? This is just a very important decision for you and I don’t want to persuade you just for my benefit. I want you to make it because you wanted to do it,” He explains. 

“But hypothetically…what would you want me to do? And give me your most honest answer,” I say. 

“I want you to stay here with me, but you already knew that.”

“I wanted to hear you say it because that’s what I want, too.”

“When do you have to give them an answer?” Dean asks.

“By the end of May.”

Dean lets out an audible sigh. Yeah, way too soon. 

“What do you want more, to go to London or stay here in Chicago?” 

I lean back in his lap to cover my face with my hands. “I don’t know, Dean! God, London wasn’t even on my mind until a few days ago.”

He gently tugs my hands away and places our hands in his lap. “I think you should go to the school,” Dean whispers. My heart drops to hear him say it. Deep down, I know that I should go, but to hear it come from his mouth is what finalizes it. 

Tears start forming in my eyes, threatening to fall down. Dean instantly wraps me up in his arms and rubs my back while he just lets me cry on his shoulder. 

“I love you, Princess. And I just want you to know that the only reason I say you should go is because this is something that can benefit you in your future. My opinion comes straight from love,” he mumbles into my hair, which makes me cry even harder. 

My chest is heaving, my breaths are coming in way too fast, and my vision is blurred from all of the tears. 

About ten minutes past before the crying dies down. 

“Baths are calming, you want to take a bath?” Dean offers. I lift my head up from his shoulders to look up at him. He gives me a weak smile and wipes my face for me. “There’s my pretty girl.” 

“In- in the secret bathroom?” I hiccup. His smile grows stronger.

“In the secret bathroom,” Dean agrees. 

He lift us both up and walks to his bedroom, pushes in the far wall, and turns on the bath water, all with me tucked in his arms. 

Dean takes us over to the vanity to take off our clothes while the tub fills up. He doesn’t let me do anything and strips us both. When we’re all naked, he sits down in the bath and I hurry in after him just to get close to him again.

“Have you ever been to London?” I ask him while he runs his hand through my hair, making it go back to its curliness. 

“Yes, plenty of times. Beautiful city. You’ll enjoy it,” Dean says. 

I place my chin on his chest to look him in the eye. “Will you visit me?” I can barely recognize my own voice right now. 

He looks a bit hesitant but nods his head anyway, Dean even adds a smile as an after thought. I won’t press him about that now, but don’t think I didn’t see that. 

 

“Do you want to stay over?” He asks while drying my hair as if I’m four years old. When the towel isn’t wrapped around my head and face anymore I say, “Yeah that might be better than going home right now.”

Dean throws the towel into his closet and goes to get us some clothes from the dresser. 

“Why, what’s going on there?” He throws over his shoulder. I flop back on the bed and look up at the ceiling. 

“Clark came over to talk to Renee and my mom.” He tosses me a pair of shorts, a bra and tank top. 

“I’m sure everything went great,” He says while pulling on his boxers. I put on the clothes he gave me and sit Indian style on the bed.

Dean gets on the bed with me and gives me a genuine smile. “What are you smilin’ at?” I ask him. He leans forward and runs his hand through my hair. Oh.

“You’re hair’s curly,” Dean tells me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! The next chapter will have a lot more going on, trust.


	27. Busted Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys probably already guessed it, but the story's almost over. :( I'd be surprised if it makes it to 40 chapters.

Mom still hates Clark, but the hatred for him isn’t as strong as it used to be since he’s paying her debt off. 

But now, Dean and I are at Dovett’s house because my little blonde friend wanted to have his sleepover ‘before everything has the chance to change’, those are his exact words. It’s the four of us (Dean, me, Dove, and Robbie) camped out in the living room. They moved the coffee table so we could lay layers and layers of blankets and pillows on the floor while the TV plays, Mean Girls, much to Robbie and Dean’s displeasure. 

“Robbie, go get your bong,” Dove sing songs, he always gets this happy when we watch this movie. Robbie grumbles, but goes to get it anyway.

“You have any food in here?” I ask while making my way to the kitchen. 

“We haven’t even started smoking yet, you fat ass!” he yells.

“I’m hungry, douche bag.” 

“We’re ordering pizza anyway,” Robbie says as he comes back in the living room with the long clear bong. I grab a bag of Hot Cheetos before sitting next to Dean again. 

Dean looks at the bag of chips and shakes his head. Not everyone can be as healthy as him. 

 

“You know, if you go to London, I don’t think it’ll be as bad as I thought it’d be,” Dove says. Dean and I shift uncomfortably. 

“And why’s that?” I ask when Robbie passes me the bong. 

“Because it’s London! Now I have a reason to go there,” he’s more excited about this than I am.

After I take my hit, I pass the bong over to Dean so I can break open my chips. 

“What is there to do in London?” Robbie asks. I shrug my shoulders, not even knowing what there’s to do there…normal people stuff, right? 

“Everything! They have all the clubs you can imagine. And all the men I can dream of,” Dove says in his dream like voice. Robbie lightly shoves his boyfriend and says, “I’m all the man you need.” I roll my eyes at the both of them.

“Moving on…Dean’s been to London before,” I say.

Dove gives all of his attention to Dean, placing his hands under his chin and all. 

“Tell me everything, beautiful man,” Dove whispers. Dean gives him a smile and I swear the blonde swoons. He passes the bong over to Dovett before talking.

“The clubs are nice, as you’ve already said. You can tour almost every castle there is, there’s the Churchill War Rooms,” Dean shrugs, “I’m sure there are a lot of other things for you to do, but we’re obviously interested in different things.” 

“I get ya,” Dove mumbles before inhaling the smoke. 

After awhile of passing around the bong, we’re all high as a kite. Mean Girls forgotten altogether. The credits are rolling but all of us are way too lazy to get up and turn off the TV. But I guess Robbie has enough energy to go buzz the pizza guy up. 

“That’s a ginormous pizza,” I observe as Robbie walks back over with it. It looks bigger than a large.

“There are three guys here and a Tambryn. Of course we need a ginormous pizza,” Robbie mutters. I shrug my shoulders, yeah he’s right.

Dean giggles and says, “Heh, a Tambryn.” Yeah, he’s definitely high as all hell. 

I reach over to open the big box of pizza, but Dove slaps my hand away. “Whyyy?” I whine while cradling my wounded hand.

“We’re all hungry as shit right now and the pizza’s hot as hell. Let it cool off for a second,” he explains. It makes sense but I still pout and show my hand to Dean. He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses it. 

“Are we all high enough to answer questions that are nasty?” Dovett asks out of nowhere. Oh, Lord. Dean huffs a breath and says, “Why not.” 

Dove perks up and turns directly to Dean. “You have to know that we all see the bite marks on Bryn, right? Or no?” He asks. Robbie nods his head and adds, “Yeah, like every time I see her, she’s got like dark red marks all over her neck.” 

It’s actually easier to cover those bite marks from my mother than from my friends, which is odd. 

Dean shrugs and says, “I don’t really think about that when I’m biting her. It just happens when it gets really good and her neck is right there, sooo…” 

“So it’s really good all the time?” Robbie asks. Dean cracks a smile at that. “Pretty much.” 

“What about you guys?” I ask while pointing at the couple. 

Dove shrugs and asks, “What about us?” 

“Do you ever get to fuck him?” Dean grumbles a deep chuckle. 

“Do I look like I fuck him? Nah, I just get fucked, topping isn’t for me. But he sucks me off really good!” Dovett says happily. Robbie gives him a smile while rolling his eyes. 

I sit back and say, “Well, at least you have a choice.” They all look at me.

“What are you talking about?” Dean asks. 

I point at Dove. “Even though he gets fucked, he uhh-” thinking right now is so hard to do, “he has the choice to fuck. I don’t have a choice to fuck you.” 

Dean’s confusion clears up and what’s left is just a smile. “You want to fuck me?” My eyes widen. We’re not fucking, why is he cursing?! Well, he is high. That may be it. 

“If I could, yeah. I think I’d be good at it.”

“You’d be a fucking beast with a dick,” Dove blurts. I flash him a bright smile. 

My eyes travel down to the giant box of pizza, mouth watering. “Can we eat now?” I whine.

“Game over, my Princess is hungry,” Dean says as he leans forward to open the box and hand me a piece.

After the pizza is gone, everyone is sated and full. I’m lying on top of Dean and Dove is lying on top of Robbie while the two manly men talk. 

“You know you’re mom finally fired Laurence’s sleazy ass, right?” Dove says while tracing the veins in my hand with his fingertips. Shit. I groan and close my eyes.

“She has that big gala going on next week,” I mumble. 

“Yeah, just giving you a heads up, she might call on ya soon.” 

“Are you two talking about that Renaissance Gala in Oak Brook?” Dean asks us.

Dove looks up and says, “Yeah, are you going?”

Dean nods his head, “Are you going to that one?” 

I huff and bury my head in Dean’s chest. “Hope not.” 

Robbie starts yawning and it makes us all yawn. “What time is it?” He asks.

“About three,” Dove answers. Geez, we’ve been up all night. 

“Can we go to sleep now?” I ask anyone who will answer. Dove rolls off of Robbie and I get off of Dean so they can break out the futon in the couch. It’s actually really comfortable, guys. It’s really worn in so the mattress just molds to your body.

“Good night, love birds! Sweet dreams!” Dove yells at us before him and Robbie head off into their room. 

I roll over and wrap a leg over Dean’s midsection while he drapes his arm over my shoulder. 

“Thanks for coming to this, Dove really wanted you to,” I mumble. Dean wasn’t exactly ecstatic about having a sleep over, he’s too classy and old for that type of stuff. But I wanted him to come so he did. 

“No problem, Princess,” he kisses my forehead, “Now get some sleep.” 

 

Dance class is back to normal, no more dancing like slaves or anything and thank God Almighty for that. The bell rings to release us and I walk a little bit slower than usual because I have a feeling that the teacher’s gonna call me.

“Tambryn honey, can you stay back for a second?!” Yep, I knew it. I walk back over to Mrs. Budois to figure out what the hell this woman wants. 

When I get to her, she just smiles with her eyes wide open. What the fuck is she waiting on? I shrug my shoulders, not knowing what to do.

“So?” She says. What the hell?

“So?” 

She rolls her eyes as if I should know exactly what she means. “How did it go with the scouts?” 

Oh, that’s what she’s waiting on. “It went good. They showed me brochures and such. So yeah…”

She nods her head excitedly. “Great, great. You think you’ll go?” 

I shrug and say, “It’s looking possible.” Even though I don’t really want to.

Mrs. Budois pulls me into a hug. She’s a short round lady, so it’s a bit awkward. 

“Oh, I’m so proud of you, Tambryn. You have a smart mouth, but it’s been lovely watching you blossom into the beautiful young lady that you are right now.” Mrs. Budois has been my teacher since freshman year, so she has watched me and taught me almost everything I know about dancing, so yeah, I’m gonna miss this crazy woman.

“That’s actually really good to hear, Mrs. Budois, thank you,” I say. 

“Yes well, I just wanted you to know that. And also, that even if you choose to not go to London, I know you’ll succeed in anything you do.” 

I’m taken aback by her words. Now it’s my turn to pull her into a hug. We break apart and go our separate ways.

 

A few days later, I’m sitting in my room, minding my own damn business when Mom just forces her way in. 

“Baby, I haven’t called on you in awhile because you said so. But now, I really need you. I had to fire Laurence and two others called off, so you’re really needed right now,” she rambles. I let out a breath, of course she did this. 

“You know you’re bogus for this, right?”

She slaps my thigh and say, “We don’t have time for this, Bryn! Get your clothes on so we can leave.” 

I roll my eyes, but do as she says. 

 

“Please be good this time, Tambryn,” Mom says when we arrive in front of the building. I roll my head over to her and say, “I’m always good, ma.” 

We walk into the back of the building and begin to set up as soon as possible. “Hello lover!” Dove bellows when he walks into the kitchen. His voice bounces off the stainless steel everything, making his voice even louder. 

“You are the only one that is excited about this whole thing,” I say. He looks around the kitchen to see everyone with their heads down, working. 

“They’re lame, that’s why.” 

“So did you talk to Dean?” I ask because of course he has.

“Uhh, yeah. He’s only my best friend in the whole wide world. He’s bringing his friend Alex.” Ohh, Alex, haven’t seen him in awhile. 

“Is your- is your dick hard, Dovett?” I tease. 

Dove rolls his eyes and shoves my shoulder. “Oh, hush. You already know nothing’s going to happen between us. Even though he’s the second hottest old guy there is…the first is Dean.” I shake my head, already knowing where he was going with that. 

“Alright, guys! Their filing in now. Get the hors d’oeuvres and champagne on trays and head out!” Mom yells at us. I get the appetizers and Dove takes the champagne and then we’re out the door. 

The room is already getting filled with people dressed to the nines. They immediately start snatching things off our trays, fucking savages. 

“What would you do if you all of a sudden were a millionaire?” Dove asks outta nowhere. 

“Buy pounds of weed and get some fat bitches over to the crib,” I say with a straight face. Dove bursts into laughter. 

“That’s the best idea ever, honey,” he says. But the laughter is short lived when Jacob and Judy walk through the goddamn door. 

“Shit.” 

Dove starts looking all over the place, trying to see what I’m talking about. “What- what are you lookin’ at? I wanna be stunned, too! Who are you- oh, him.” Took him awhile. 

Thankfully Jacob doesn’t see me, so Dove and I try to stay as far away from them as humanly possible. 

“Hey, Dove!” We hear Alex’s loud ass voice some ways away. We turn around to see him and Dean walking over to us. 

“If Robbie wasn’t in the picture, I swear to God I’d be all on that,” Dove mumbles to me. 

“I think the more you see him at these things, the closer you’re going to get to fucking him,” I whisper back. Dove turns to me with a shocked look on his face.

“Shut up, Bryn! I’m a lady, not just anyone gets to hit.” I don’t get the chance to respond since the two men are in front of us now. 

“How are you two doing?” Dean asks us. We both nod our heads. 

“Hey, can I talk to you, Alex?” Dove asks. Alex looks surprised but agrees. They walk away, leaving Dean and I alone.

“Would you get in trouble if we left for a bit?” Dean asks.

He’s reading my mind. “To where?” 

He points to the entrance and says, “There’s a closet down the hall, and an empty meeting room, too.” 

I eat the rest of the hors d’oeuvres on my tray before walking out the room with Dean leading the way. 

“Take us to the closet,” I say. He abruptly stops in front of a door and opens it. It’s dark and empty in the hallway and in the closet when he opens it. Dean pulls on a string and the light bulb flickers on to reveal racks and racks of toilet paper and soap. At least it smells clean in here.

I set down the metal tray on the floor while Dean locks the door. “Locking the door? What the hell do you plan on doing?” I ask him. He gives me a small smile and walks over to me. I have to look up at him when he stops right in front of me. 

I get on my tip toes, expecting him to lean down, but Dean just picks me up, making me straddle his waist. My arms wrap around his neck and pull him into a kiss. Dean breaks through my lips with his tongue to dart it into my mouth. He’s not playing any kind of games tonight.

And as expected, his lips trail down to my neck. He gets a little frustrated because of the collar on my button down shirt, but he manages. “We d- don’t have too much time, Deanie,” I breathe.

“You’re right,” Dean lets me down to start unbuckling my dress pants. 

“Wait,” I say while pulling out the condom that I got from unnecessary Sex-Ed class.

Dean looks utterly petrified when he catches sight of the little tin foil package.

“Why?” He asks. 

I wave in the general direction of the room. “Umm, because we’re in a closet and not to mention that you come like a fucking fountain.”

Dean worries at his lip, rolling my words over in his head. 

“Can we at least try if it’d fit?” I ask. He rolls his eyes but opens his pants anyway to see if it fits. 

I hand it to him and he brings it up to his squinting eyes, examining the package. “Tambryn, this is a regular size, it won’t fit!” He’s such a whiner.

“Let’s not get over confident, now,” I mumble. Dean huffs but rips open the wrapper and rolls it on himself. We both look down to see if it’ll fit and…it doesn’t.

Guys, if you could see what I’m looking at right now, you’d be on the floor dying of laughter. I cover my mouth with the collar of my shirt. But Dean hears me chuckling anyway. The condom stopped half way and is beginning to rip because he’s too thick for it. 

“Told you,” he mumbles so, so disgruntled. 

I pull on the tip of the condom and watch as it flings off. He groans and grabs my wrist. 

“Baby, you’re going to have to do something with it,” he says. I know exactly what he’s talking about, but watching him suffer is fun.

“Like what?” I ask all innocently. Dean’s jaw clenches and his eyes become bluer. 

“Tambryn, you know exactly what I mean. You never had a problem doing it before,” he gripes while tugging on my tie. 

I give in and drop to my knees in front of him. “Thank God,” he mumbles while holding himself by the base, holding it for me. I take over, wrapping my hand around the base and opening my mouth to suck on the head. The moan from above comes almost instantly.

My mouth and throat opens wider around him while stroking the rest that can’t fit. The thin metal shelves whine under Dean’s tight grip on them. I look up to see him staring right back at me, biting his bottom lip. 

I break eye contact to start bobbing my head faster in his lap. Dean drops one of his hands from the shelf to wrap it in my hair, pulling me further on his dick.

It becomes harder to breathe since he’s getting closer and closer to the edge. I mean, giving blowjobs aren’t just a walk in the fucking park. I gotta make sure not to bite him, swallow my spit AND his precome, and getting over the ache in my jaw. 

My fingers start meeting my lips in the frenzy to get him off. His grip tightens in my hair as he says, more like moans, “Your mouth feels so good, Princess. Keep sucking, don't stop.” God, I love when he starts talking like this.

After swallowing his precome for a third time, I slide him almost all of the way out of my mouth until I’m just sucking on the head and moving my hand at a blurring speed. My phone buzzes in my pocket, but I ignore it to keep going. 

His breathing heightens and he makes these little adorable groans from the back of his throat. “I’m about to come…shit!” Dean moans. 

Not even a second later, my mouth is being flooded with his creamy seed. I have to start gulping it down to keep up with his familiarly long orgasm. When he’s finally done, Dean pulls away to tuck himself back into his pants and then helps me up. 

“Thank you, Princess,” Dean mutters against my cheek. The vibration of his words tickles. 

I pull my phone out of my pocket to see a text from my mom asking me where I am. My hands land on Dean’s chest to push him away and grab the forgotten metal tray. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. We gotta get back to the party or whatever the hell this is.”

We agree that I’ll leave first and then a few minutes later he’ll leave. I hear a couple murmuring to each other, but I don’t turn around to catch a glimpse of them. 

“Where have you been? Your mom’s been looking for you,” Dove says right when I get back into the ballroom. 

“I was with Dean,” I answer while walking towards the kitchen to fill up my tray. Of course the little blonde follows me. 

“Ohh, girl. Your breath reeks of cum,” he says. Oh, God.

We’re the only ones in the kitchen, so he talks as loud as he wants and I start eating and drinking whatever’s on the table to get rid of the cum smell. 

“You could’ve at least kissed me first so I could get a little taste of him,” Dove grumbles while stacking champagne glasses on his tray.

“You’re disgusting,” I mumble over a mouthful. 

When we open up the door to get back into the ballroom, my mom is coming in. Great timing.

“Where were you?” She asks. 

“I was in the bathroom,” I answer. 

She quirks an eyebrow at me. “For almost fifteen minutes?” 

“Why are you all up in my bathroom business?” 

She huffs but gives us room to get by. 

“You are such a whore,” Dove mumbles to me. 

I joke as if I’m offended and say, “How?”

Dove giggles right in my face. “You blew him in a bathroom, lover.”

“It was a storage closet for your information. And weren’t you the one who gave Robbie the goods in Grant Park?”

Dove raises his index finger at me and says, “Don’t try to make me sound like some kind of pervert; we did that at night and on a towel. Plus, something like that is expected from me. But not from my little Bryn.”

I roll my eyes at his logic. “I’m not as innocent as you make me out to be and you know it.” 

And since we weren’t looking where we were going, we end up right in front of Jacob and that bitch Judy. 

“Hey, Bryn!” Jacob says all happily. Dove mutters a curse, making the two idiots glance over at him before their attention gets back on me.

“Hi.”

“So how’s it goin’?” He asks. Why does he continue to do this?

My eyes slide over to the shiny glass in Judy’s hand. It must be cider or some shit.

“Was going great,” I deadpan.

“What’s wrong with you?” Judy asks. 

I turn all of my attention to her since she obviously wants all of the damn light on her ugly ass. “What’s wrong with me is how you two dumb asses keep comin’ outta nowhere to talk to me for no damn reason. What is your reason for talking to me exactly?” 

They both do that rich people laugh while looking tilting their heads back before looking back at me. 

“You must not know what we know, Bryn,” Jacob says. What the hell is this guy talking about?

“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask.

Before Jacob can answer my question, that damn champagne glass slips from Judy’s hand and shatters into millions of pieces against the floor. It’s as if the whole room fell silent. It probably didn’t, but I just blurred out everyone else for a second. 

Dean lands in my line of sight behind Jacob’s head some ways away, shaking his head as if he knew exactly what is going through my head. Dove gets on his knees to clean it up, but just like last time, Judy stops him. “No! I want her to clean it up.” 

Dove doesn’t get up, so I pull him back up on his feet. “I was gonna pick it up, girl,” he harshly whispers to me. 

“She knows her place, stranger. So let her clean it up…again,” She says. My fist clench all on its own.

If I punch her, Jacob will just pull me off of her. But if he’s hurt, he’ll be too occupied with himself to worry about her. Master plan ensues. 

I take the two glasses that are on my tray and place them on a nearby table. Big breath in, big breath out.

I bash his stupid face with the metal tray, making him nurse his now bloody nose. Dove, the smart little fella he is, backs away from the scene to give me room. I look over to Judy to see her face flushed with fear and regret of what she did. Too late for that now. I cock back my arm and deck her right in her nose. 

“Tambryn, no!” I hear my mom say. I grab her by the strap of her dress with my left hand, pulling her closer to my right fist that smashes into her face again. Rich people are too rich to get involved into fights, so they just stand around and gawk at the violent peasant girl punch the little “innocent” rich girl.

It’s like I’m a motherfucking machine because I can’t stop my fist from bashing into her bloody face. It’s just all of that anger from last time and her audacity to talk down to me this time (and my anger issues since forever) just boiled over. 

“Tambryn, get off of her!” Mom yells while pulling at my shirt. I turn around to push her and get back to punching Judy’s jaw in. 

Alex comes up from behind Judy to pull her away while Dean wraps his arms around my waist to pull me away. 

“You fucking psycho bitch!” Judy yells while pushing Alex away from her, spitting blood out with every word she utters. 

“Don’t forget it, you dumb slut!” I yell back. 

And then Jacob comes between us, still holding his nose and says, “So this is the dude you were in that closet with!” He points right to the man behind me, which is of course Dean. 

“Alright nothing to see here, people!” Dove says while waving his hands, trying horribly to change the subject. But bless his heart anyway. 

Mom pushes him away and walks up to Jacob and asks, “What are you talking about?” 

“Dean Maverick,” he points to Dean, “They came out that closet outside together. Not together, but she came out first and then he came out. Jodie saw, too! Right, Jodie?” He looks over to Judy and she nods her head frantically. 

Mom turns to me and then to Dean, and then to me again. “Is this true?” She asks. We both shake our heads. “No!” 

“You were all the way across the room and you came over to get my daughter off of her. What the hell is that about, then?!” Mom asks. 

“She works for me,” is all Dean says. I guess there isn’t really anything else he can say. 

Mom turns away, totally not convinced and yells to her staff, “Clean up everything! I’m leaving!” And then she grabs me by the arm and rushes us out of the building. 

To say it was an awkward ride home can be counted as the understatement of the millennium. She didn’t even look my damn way, didn’t even look back at me while walking up to the house, and didn’t even hold the front door open for me.

Right when the door closes behind me, Mom turns around and here. 

We. 

Go.

“What the hell was that stuck up prick and that dumb girl talking about at that party, Tambryn?!” I’ve heard Mom scream before, but never like this. The loud boom of her voice makes Renee peak her head out of her room.

“They were lying,” I say. 

“Oh bullshit, Tambryn! You were gone for fifteen minutes and that prick just so happened to see you and him walking out of a closet together! That’s too much of a coincidence to be just a fucking coincidence! Now what the hell is going on?!” 

I lean back on the door and shrug. “I don’t know what to tell ya.” 

“How about the truth! I know you haven’t told me a single true thing in months! Months, Tambryn! Are you seeing Dean Maverick or not? Give me that, Bryn. Just give me that one thing.” 

An audible gulp sounds through the room. I nod my head yes and look down to the floor, not being able to meet her eyes. The sound of her sitting down on the bottom of the steps is the only thing I can hear. “Oh, Tambryn,” the disappointment in her voice is clear, “How did I miss the signs?”

Anger slowly makes its way through my veins again tonight. “You didn’t see the signs because you’re never fucking here!” 

Her head pops up from her hands to give me a death glare. “What did you just say to me?” Her words come out like venom. That voice doesn’t scare me anymore. 

“Ever since you started your little business, you’re never here to notice anything! You missed three of my recitals because of work. And you only came to the one last year because you finally realized that you’ve never been to one. You missed Renee’s art festival thingy at school because you had to go out to Oak Brook for a wedding, the list can go on!”

“Well at least she isn’t hiding things from me like you are!” 

I know that I said that the words would never leave my mouth, but they come out like word vomit. Just picture Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls. 

“Renee cuts herself because she’s been abandoned by both of her shitty ass parents!” 

My little sister’s eye widen from the top of the stairs with hurt and shock. I don’t notice what I’ve said until all after the fact. I was just trying to prove a point. 

“You promised you wouldn’t tell, Tambryn!” She squeals. 

“Renee baby, is that true?” Mom asks as she climbs the stairs to her youngest kid. 

Out of all the things that Renee and I have done to each other, this has to be the worst, and it was me that did it. I grab my keys and head out the door to my car. I dial Dean’s number, but he doesn’t answer, so I call Dove and he picks up on the third ring.

“Are you okay, Bryn?” He asks in a hurry.

“Yeah, but is it okay if I stay with you for tonight?” I ask while starting up the car.

“Of course, of course. Come on over, lover.”

 

I get to Dove’s place and he ushers me in. Robbie is in the kitchen with his laptop on the countertop, engulfed in it. 

“You know there’s already shit on the internet about you and Dean?” Robbie peaks his head up to look at me. My heart drops. I run over to the screen to see a picture of a smiling Dean and the headline reading, Brawl Breaks Out at Gala. 

I don’t read the whole damn thing, but basically it’s just recalling the events of the night. Some true, some false. But they emphasized that an unknown catering worker has been rumored to be seeing the biggest electric supplier in the Northern hemisphere. Well, shit.

“Have you talked to him yet?” Dove asks as he comes over to us. 

I shake my head no. “I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer. You think it has something to do with this?” My eyes travel between the two of them, seeking an answer from both of them.

“It could be. He’s probably being bulldozed with questions as we speak,” Robbie answers. I huff and walk over to the blue couch to just collapse onto it. 

“This shit is happening right on time,” Dove says. We both turn our heads to look at him.

“What do you mean?” I ask him. 

Dove shrugs and says, “If there was ever a doubt in your mind if you should or shouldn’t leave for London, this should tell ya now what you should do.” 

Ugh, I really don’t feel like dealing with anything of the sort right now. 

“That’s if they didn’t get word of this yet,” Robbie mumbles. 

Dove shoves his boyfriend and says, “Why are you so negative? She needs us right now, Robert. Make us some cookies. Go, ski-daddle.”

Robbie shakes his head but gets to making the desserts.

Dovett gives me a smile as he lays his lithe body on top of mine, his cheek laying on my cheek and all.

“He didn’t answer my phone call. He never misses my calls,” I mumble. 

“Call him again,” Dove says.

I get my phone out and dial Dean’s number, but just like the last time, it keeps ringing. Dove turns his head and places a chaste kiss on my lips. 

“He’ll call back, he has to.” 

My phone buzzes, but it’s not my Deanie. It’s Benny and maybe Lily, too.

“So why are we reading an article right now, about a brawl that happened at a gala. We thought about it and said, ‘hey, that sounds just like something our good friend Bryn would be involved in’. Are we right? Did you beat up that girl and get put out about Dean,” Benny says right when I press the green button. It’s as if he knew right when I opened his call. 

“Yeah, yeah the article is about me,” I mutter while wiping my eye. This day needs to be over already.

“Have I told you that your life is like my favorite book? It really is,” Lily yells over the receiver. This day needs to end starting now.

“Look, I’ll call you guys later, okay?” I don’t wait for an answer, I just hang up. 

“Wanna go to bed?” Dove asks. I nod my head and he gets up to let me up.

“What about the cookies, I want cookies,” I point to the kitchen. 

“Yeah, and someone is eating these cookies, like seriously!” Robbie yells from the kitchen. Dove rolls his eyes and says, “Just bring the cookie dough in the room; we’ll eat it like that.”

“And risk you guys getting sick? How ‘bout no?”

“Who do you know has actually gotten salmonella from eating raw cookie dough, Robert, hmm? No one, that’s who.”

We hear Robbie huff and mutter insults under his breath, but he comes out with the bowl of cookie batter nonetheless. Whipped!

The three of us head into the bedroom. I take off my button down and black slacks, leaving me in my tank top and panties.

For the next hour we just sit in bed eating the cookie dough and talking before we knock out all together. 

 

“Bryn, Bryn, you gotta wake up,” Dove’s voice leads me back to the land of the living. I huff and puff, but get into the sitting position on the bed. Robbie’s still on the edge of the bed sleeping his ass off.

“What, Dovett?” He then stuffs a phone into my face and says, “It’s Dean, take it.”

Dean? Dean! I take the phone from him and put it to my ear.

“Hello?” 

“Princess, how are you?” A smile comes across my face from just the sound of his voice.

“I’m good. I called you last night, you didn’t answer.”

He sighs and says, “Yes, I know you did. I called you back but I guess your phone died, so I just called Dove.” 

“Is there a specific reason why you didn’t answer me?”

“My phone kept ringing from different interviewers all night. Some of them even stopped Alex and I to ask us a few questions about the unidentified young girl.”

I run a hand through my hair, still exhausted. “I’m so sorry, Dean. I know that I told you that I’d work on my anger and I let ya down. I’m so sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.”

“Oh, Princess, I could never be mad at you. We’ll get through this, okay?” 

I nod my head even though he can’t see me. “Can I see you now?”

“Of course, come on over.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

“Bye.” And then we hang up. 

“What he say?” Dove asks. 

I get up to start putting my clothes back on. “He said that people have been interviewing him all night.”

Dove’s eyes widen as he leans against the dresser. “Oh wow,” is all he has to say.

“Is it possible that you guys can go at least one day without disturbing me?” Robbie mumbles while placing a pillow over his face. Dove and I share a look and jump on Robbie’s big muscled body. 

“We make your life worth living, Robert! You know this!” Dove yells while ripping the pillow from his boyfriend’s face. Robbie doesn’t fight; he just places his head in his arms, totally ignoring us. I place a kiss on his full head of hair and give Dove a kiss on the lips before making my way out of their place.

 

I knock on Dean’s door and hear footsteps getting closer and closer. When he opens the door, he has bags under his eyes and his hair is disheveled. But besides all of that, he still manages to give me a smile. 

“Come on in,” he leaves some room for me to get through. I walk in to see a bottle of whiskey and a couple of glasses sitting on the countertop. 

“Someone’s here?” I ask, pointing at the glasses. After Dean closes the door, he walks over to put the cups in the dishwasher and twists the cap onto the bottle of whiskey before answering me.

“Alex left a little while ago. It was a rough night for all of us,” he explains. Dean motions for me to follow him into the living room.

“You’re not lying about that,” I mutter. Dean sits down and then I sit on him, straddling his waist. 

“Why, what happened with you?” 

I huff out a breath of air and place my head on his shoulder. 

“My mom made me admit that we’re together and it turned into this big thing causing me to tell her that Renee cuts herself.”

Dean moves his shoulder to get me to lift up and look him in the eyes. “You’re sister cuts herself?” I guess he missed the part where I said that my mom made me admit that I’m coupled with a forty seven year old. 

“Yeah, not as much as she used to, but yeah,” I say, a bit confused.

“Why?” 

“She used to think that there was something wrong with her since Clark abandoned us and our mom being gone all the time for work,” I tell him. 

He pouts and says, “That’s so sad. Your mother should get her into therapy or something.”

I shrug, never thought about that. I just settled on her being a little weirdo, but we might need to do that. 

My phone soon starts to ring and it’s my mother. “You should answer it,” Dean tells me. 

I shake my head and say, “But I don’t wanna!” 

Dean gives me a stern look that I can’t help but think he gives to his kids when he’s serious. “Answer it, Tambryn.”

His gaze makes me feel like I’m a five year old, so I do as he says and answer it.

“Yes?” 

“Where are you?” She asks. 

“…Somewhere.” 

“You’re with him, aren’t you?” Jesus, she doesn’t let up!

“No I am not.”

“Then where are you, Bryn?” 

“I really don’t have to answer that,” I say.

“And why is that?”

“I’m 18.”

She literally laughs at my answer. “You still live under my roof, Bryn! If I ask you a question, then you answer it. Now are you with him?”

My shoulders slump. “Yes.”

“So he’s who you’ve been spending days on end with. Bring him here; I want to talk to the both of you.”

“What?!”

“You heard me. Bring him here,” she repeats.

Dean hears the whole conversation, so before I can tell her off, he nods his head, agreeing to her command. 

“We’ll be over soon.” 

“Good.” And then we hang up.

“She wants us to leave now?” Dean asks. I nod my head. He taps the side of my leg to get me off him before heading to his bedroom. I follow him and ask, “Why are you so nonchalant about this?” 

He turns around quickly to give me a smile. “I’m glad that you said that because that’s the exact opposite of what I’m feeling. We both can’t be freaking out.”

 

About an hour later, we end up in front of my house. I get out of my car and he gets out of his. “Ready?” Dean asks as we walk up to the door.

I shake my head, unlocking the door for us. Mom’s in the kitchen sipping on a steaming cup of coffee and Renee is nowhere to be seen. She walks over to us when she sees Dean.

He holds his hand out for her to shake, “I wish we were meeting again under different circumstances, but we can’t control that, can we?” 

She ignores his outstretched hand and lands a slap across his face. I step between them. “Mom!” 

“It’s okay, I deserve that,” Dean says. 

“You damn right you do!” She yells. 

“Did you just want him to come over just so you can abuse him?” I ask her. She stops glaring at him to look over at me.

“That was part of it,” she looks back over to him, “Are you some kind of pedophile?”

Dean shakes his head vehemently and says, “No, no, no. I’m as surprised at our relationship as anyone else. She is the youngest girl I’ve ever been with. I’m not some predator, Ms. Caverly.”

“Then what the hell are you doing with a barely legal girl?! What else am I supposed to think when I find out that my eighteen year old daughter is with a forty something year old man?! It’s- it’s disgusting!” 

“I know this doesn’t really help the situation, but when I first met your daughter, I thought that she was older than seventeen.”

“Have you had sex with her?” 

My head shoots up at that question. “Mom!” She holds her hand up in my face to shut me up.

“Answer the question, Dean,” she says.

I look over to Dean whose face has turned a bright red. He looks so conflicted right now. “Yes.” His answer is barely audible. 

“I turned eighteen, though. Legal,” I add. She looks over to me with such disgust. I don’t think we’ll never come back from this.

“You say that as if it makes it better, Tambryn! He’s a full grown man with kids. Am I the only one who finds a problem with this?”

“No, you’re not. When I say that I didn’t plan on this, I mean it. And I apologize for the embarrassment of last night,” Dean says.

“Oh, no one is as embarrassed of last night like I am. I’ve had three event planners call me saying that they’re not using my catering for their events. And I highly doubt my phone isn’t done ringing with people cancelling my contract. I can’t work in this town again because of you two!”

Damn, I didn’t know it was gonna get that bad.

“I don’t know what to say to make this better. I’m sorry,” Dean says in a low voice. 

Mom looks up at him with tears in her eyes. “No, there is nothing you can say to make this better. You took my baby away from me, Dean. How would you like it if I took your kids away from you?” 

“He didn’t take me away from you, ma,” she looks over at me, “You pushed me away. If it wasn’t him, I would’ve been gone for another reason.” She closes her eyes, making the tears fall down her face. I haven’t seen her cry since the day Clark left us, so I really don’t know what to do, I’m not good with people crying, especially my own mother. She’s the one who taught me that crying showed weakness. 

Dean’s eyes droop and he reaches out a hesitant hand to her and rubs at her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Caverly. I really am. I didn’t plan on all of this happening. Please, stop crying,” he says. 

She picks her head up and wipes at her face. “How can I stop crying when everything has gone to shit? I don’t have my daughter anymore nor do I have my business.” 

We’re silent, not knowing what to say to that. Dean’s phone starts to ring, creating some type of welcomed noise. He looks down at the screen and then at me, mouthing, “It’s my daughter.” I nod my head and he excuses himself outside to take the call.

It’s just my mom and I and I’ve never felt that we were strangers until now. 

“I’m sorry about how you found out about everything and about your job, but I won’t apologize about my relationship with him,” I say. She looks back up at me, listening. “It may be unconventional, but I love him and he loves me. He was lonely and I was lonely, so we were there for each other and he’s still there for me. I’m not trying to guilt trip you, but he was there for me when you weren’t. Even though he’s in charge of a big company, he still made time for me. So you being out of a job might not be as bad as you’re making it. I’ll be leaving soon so you’ll need to focus more on Renee, because she needs you more than I ever did.”

She wipes at her face a few more times before walking into the kitchen to nurse her cup of coffee. 

Dean comes back in looking exhausted. “What happened?” I ask him.

“My kids heard about last night and wanted to know if it were true about us,” Dean answers. 

“They knew it was me?” I ask.

He shrugs. “Valencia and Valerie already had an idea about you and I and last night just proves it all.” 

I wince; yeah we weren’t the best at hiding it. “How did they take it?”

“They wished that I told them. But I have a feeling I’m going to have to talk to all of them soon. How’s your mom?” 

Now it’s my turn to shrug. “She’ll be alright.” 

“Is it okay if I leave?” He asks. 

I nod my head and he gives me a quick kiss before rushing out the door. When he’s gone, I walk over to my mom in the kitchen. She wipes at her nose when she sees me coming. 

“Jodie and Jacob’s families aren’t pressing charges against you.”

Psh, they were gonna? I don’t see why. “That’s good,” I don’t know what else to say.

She nods her head, too. “I’m gonna take a nap,” she gets up and walks up the steps. 

My eyes follow her, knowing that our relationship is gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bryn's mom had to find out eventually, right? Hope you guys enjoyed!


	28. Glass All Around Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get some tissues ready...I know I'm gonna need 'em.

Since everyone that’s close to us now knows about Dean and I, there’s no reason why we should hide any longer…right? Every time I leave to go visit him, I make sure to tell my mother so. And now, I don’t even fight it when Dean tries to bite my neck, not hiding at all.

It’s been a straight month since all of that has happened and zero fucks have been given. I’m not invited to graduation because of the fight, so the fucking school just mailed my diploma. Of course Mom was angry with both me and the school, it just added to the reasons why she’s furious with me. I think she feels like I robbed her of one of the most prized parental accomplishments in her life. Whatever, I never liked graduations anyway.

It’s also been a straight month of Dean and I fucking non-stop because of the zero fucks that are given. Like right now.

Currently, Dean is fucking me into the mattress with the floor-to-ceiling curtains wide open. He tucked each of my legs into the crook of his arms with his hips pounding into my ass. My head is cocked to the right on the pillow to leave room for Dean to suck on my neck. 

“Why did you…mph…why did you have to tell…m-my mom that we have sex?” That question has been eating me up since that day. His hips don’t stop moving, but he does stop sucking on my neck to look me in the face. 

“Would you have preferred if I told your mother about how I fuck her daughter into every available object?” He’s so close that I can feel every breath he utters, and how it rushes its way into my mouth. “Oh wait, or would you have preferred me telling your mother about how I love coming on her daughter’s face every chance I get?” This really shouldn’t be turning me on as much as it is. “No, no, no! What if I told your mother about how her daughter rides my cock with her head thrown back and her tits bouncing like it’s the only thing she knows how to do. Tell me, Princess, which one would you have preferred?”

I don’t answer his question, which irritates him. He turns my head roughly so we’re back at staring each other in the face. “Princess,” Dean spits out the word. I just hum my answer, not really trusting my own voice. 

“What would you have liked me to say? Answer me, little girl.” I don’t have the time to answer his question since I come out of nowhere. My toes curl and my breathing stops all together. All after the fact is when I open my eyes (not even knowing they were closed) to see Dean staring down at me. He’s not moving as fast as he was before, but enough to get him closer and closer to his own release. 

“You look so beautiful when you come,” Dean mutters as if he’s in a daze. I push his face away with the palm of my hand. “Shut up and hurry up.” Dean chuckles and resumes the brutal pace from before. It stings a bit from the over-stimulation, but it doesn’t last too long.

His hips jerk as he finally comes. The grunts that come from Dean are so deep, he sounds like an animal. His load isn’t as big since it’s our fifth time today which is good. It feels weird when his come drips down my legs. Dean gives me one last powerful thrust before collapsing on the space next to me, breathing hard. 

When Dean’s breathing has slowed, he tucks his face into my neck, just breathing me in. “I like coming inside of you. Know why?” He mumbles. My eyes widen in surprise at the question. 

“No,” I utter, kinda intrigued.

He peeps up at me with amusement in his deep blue eyes, pupils barely visible. 

“Because,” his hand starts to make its way down between my legs, “it’s nice to know that even when I’m not inside of you, there’s still a piece of me in you.” His fingers pump into the wet mess inside of me, making my breath hitch. His lips trail up to mine, making me feel every word he utters. “I’m basically claiming you, Tambryn.” He starts angling his fingers to that perfect place inside of me that makes everything feel ten times better. 

My bottom lip starts to ache from being stuck between my teeth. He can’t make me come this soon. “Let your lip go. Don’t you agree that you’re mine? I want an answer, Princess,” his fingers pick up the pace inside of me. I nod my head, thinking that was enough, because it totally was. Dean shakes his head and his fingers begin diving deeper into me, digging into the special place. 

“Oh no, baby. I want to hear you say it,” he says with the most adorable innocence a man with a deep voice like his can have. 

Since he wants to be a douche bag, I’ll be a douche bag right back. “I’m not yours,” it takes a lot out of me to say that. The shock he’s feeling is evident just by the look on his face. When he impossibly picks up the pace inside of me is when I feel that I need to get away. I’ve already came like a hundred times, it just stings now. 

I get on my hands and knees before he locks me down. It wasn’t very hard on his part since we’re in the middle of his ginormous bed. All he had to do was clamp his thigh over my calves and start rubbing his fingers on the spot inside a little bit more brutal. And to be honest, it’s kinda hard to get away from a person who is inside of you in the first place.

Dean takes his thigh off of my calves to crawl up to my ear and whisper, “Oh? Well who do you belong to then? Please, tell me.” 

I reach under me to try and pull Dean’s fingers from me. Of course him being the stronger one, it doesn’t work. I try to hold in a whimper, but no, it had to slip out. Might as well go with it. “Dean, please. It’s starting to hurt. I-” 

“Shh, baby. You’re okay. Promise,” he interrupts and by a twitch of his fingertips, it all of a sudden feels like heaven again. “Now just tell me who you belong to.”

Oh, now I see how he’s playing. I push my hips back on his fingers, just fucking myself on him. “Tambryn…” He warns. 

“How about you just shut up and let me come,” I snap. There’s a long silence between us, just me fucking his fingers is the only thing that can be heard…Until Dean lets out a frustrated growl. He yanks his fingers from me, about to flip me over before I turn around and kick him in the chest. Dean falls back on the bed, stunned. I take the chance to scurry over and straddle his torso. 

He stares back up at me; I feel his dick growing on my butt. “Admit who you belong to, Maverick,” I command with my hands pushing on his chest. 

“You.” And the answer came so easily from him, it makes me freeze. 

“What?” 

Dean chuckles at a joke that I didn’t even know about. “What’s so funny?” I pout at him.

“What’s funny is the fact that you believe that I don’t already belong to you,” Dean says. I sit back, motioning for him to go on. “I became yours the first time we met at the Hilton. This whole relationship was for you to admit that you’re mine.”

A small smile starts to form on my lips. God, he’s such a sap, but I love him for it. I bend down to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. “I’m yours, Dean. I promise,” I mumble against his lips. He smiles up at me, his dimples showing through proudly and he pulls me down for another kiss.

 

I get home a little while later and Renee’s the only one here. “Where did ma go?” I ask her when setting my keys in the dish.

“Job interviews,” she responds. I nod my head and take the stairs up. 

Renee and I…are just being Renee and I. I can tell she’s still angry with me for telling her secret, and I’m kinda mad at myself for doing it, too. She trusted me with that and it blew up in her face. But on the other hand, Mom needed to know.

There’s a knock at the door and she goes to get it. I’m at the top of the stairs, so I bend down to see that it’s Clark. I actually forgot about him. 

Renee’s face brightens up and she wraps her arms around his midsection, giving him a hug. It makes him smile also as he wraps his arms around her small shoulders. “How you doin’, baby girl?” He asks. She mutters something I can’t hear and it makes him smile even more. I take the steps back down and Clark gives me a small smile, probably knows about everything already. Fucking Mom, I bet she told her sisters, too.

“And how are you?” He asks me. 

I shrug, “Been better.” 

He nods, understanding. 

“What brings you here, Dad?” Renee asks when they finally part. Dad? Where the hell did that come from?

He points to me off-handedly and says, “I actually came here to talk to your sister and mom.” I cock an eyebrow. For what?

“For what?” I ask him. He tucks his hands into his suit pockets and looks away from me uncomfortably. Oh, God. Please, anything but this. 

“Can we…have some privacy, Renee? About ten minutes,” he says to her. She nods her head and makes her way up the stairs to her room. He turns to me and motions to the living room.

I make the short walk over to the living room sofa quicker than usual. “Look, if you’re here to talk about what I think you’re here to talk about, can we not? I mean I’ve heard everything I could here on this subject,” I say while leaning back on the comfy big pillows. 

He takes a seat next to me and shakes his head. “Well, I am here to talk to you about…him. As a father-” I snort at that one. “As someone who cares a whole lot about you, I just want to know if he ever…took advantage of you.” 

Oh, God. It’s worse than I thought. “No, he never took advantage of me, Clark. And what were you going to do if he did?” 

Clark drops the constipated look and picks up a stone face. “I would have pushed to get that man in prison, Tambryn. You were a minor when all of this started correct?”  
Who the fuck does he think he is? 

“There are so many things wrong with what you just said; I don’t know where to begin. But lemme try,” he looks as if he’s preparing for the hardest punch of his life. “Answer this question for me, how were you going to score putting a man who makes five million dollars every twenty minutes in prison, hmm? I don’t care how big of a raise BP gave you, that would never happen,” Clark looks down in his lap, feeling a little stupid. Good. “And if you wanna give this whole father role a try, don’t act like you know me. Yes, I did start seeing Dean when I was seventeen,” I just remember that me and Dean’s one year is coming up. “But that doesn’t matter, because I’m now eighteen. And since you wanna get all up in my business, we didn’t fuck until my birthday. Just in case the next question was if I were raped.”

We’re engulfed in silence when I’m done with my little speech. Clark rubs his hands on his thighs before getting up from the sofa and I follow his lead. “Well thank God that didn’t happen, right?” He says before walking to the kitchen table to take a seat there. Why does this dude keep moving around?

“What do you wanna talk to Mom about?” I ask. 

“My boss called me earlier today and said that I have to fly back to Seattle this Thursday.” Well thank the Lord above. “And I wanted to talk to her before I left. Hopefully take you all out to dinner.” 

I cross my arms. “Renee is the only one that’s gonna go for that,” I mutter. Just then, Mom walks through the door. She looks over at Clark and then at me. “Oh, I see you’re back,” she says while placing her bag on the table. My eyes roll at that. She’s always ready to argue. 

“What are you doin’ here, Clark?” Mom asks, not even looking at him. 

I don’t hear his response since I finally make my way to my room. 

 

A few days after that, Clark finally went back home to Seattle. The only person that ended up going to dinner with him was Renee, but whatever. I’m just glad he’s gone, survived this long without him. 

Mom walks through the front door right when I’m about to leave to go to Dove’s. She looks startled, but her face goes back to that frown she’s been sporting for awhile now. 

“Those scouts wanna meet with you here on Tuesday. You haven’t called them about going, have you?” She asks. Can’t even get a ‘hello’ around here anymore. 

“No, I haven’t. Been busy,” I answer. Her nostrils flare at my response, just like I’d hoped. 

“So are you for sure going?” 

“What, can’t wait to get me outta here?” She doesn’t answer my question, just makes her way into the house, while I make my way out to my car. 

 

“I dunno man, things have just been weird lately,” I mumble while I watch Robbie clean the laces on his shoes. I’ve never seen someone show so much dedication to shoelaces, but there’s a first time for everything. 

Dove plops down on the space on the sofa next to me with a bowl of popcorn in his hands. It just hits me now that we do absolutely nothing but eat and talk when we’re together. 

“What do you mean by that?” He asks. 

I shrug. “My mom doesn’t talk to me unless she’s telling me to do something. Renee hates me, well, she’s always hated me. But that was just the sibling fighting thing, now it’s just a hate that kinda hurts, ya know?” 

Dove takes some time to stuff his mouth of popcorn while staring at me, thinking of what to say. “Bryn, ninety-nine percent of your problems would be solved by now if you just talked to the person you had a problem with,” Robbie says, not looking up from his sneakers. 

I roll my eyes at that cliché ass answer. “Not everything is as easy as cake, Robert. Renee isn’t just one of those people that you can talk to about stuff like this.”

He sets his shoe down on the floor and gives me all of his attention. “Not to be a dick, but what do you know about your sister?”

My eyes narrow on him. “What?”

He shrugs and asks, “What’s her favorite color? What does she like to do? What does she wanna be when she grows up? Do you have an answer to any of those questions what so ever, Bryn?” 

And it finally sinks in. I know absolutely jack shit about that girl. “I know about the little sibling rivalry, believe me, I know. Not me personally, but I’ve watched my brothers argue and compete with each other ever since I was born. But you and your sister…you two are a bit more extreme,” Dove says. 

Even though Clark left Renee, she likes him because he wants to know about her. And that’s something I’ve never tried to do. 

“Okay, noted. I get you guys’ point,” it comes out under my breath. 

“So anything else weird that’s going on in this weird thing called life?” Dove inquires. Now that I think about it…

“You guys know how Dean bites me,” I start. They both nod their heads, excited already. Pervs. “Well, he still does that. But he does more now…” 

Dove rolls his eyes with a huff of breath. “Yeah, like what. Spit that shit out already.” Thirsty ass. 

I reach over to throw a few kernels of popcorn at him. “He’s always bossy when we fuck, and that shit’s hot, but now…he’s starting to…claim me?” They both share a look before looking back at me with their eyebrows cocked. 

“Claim you?” Robbie asks. 

I nod. “Yeah, like, he comes all over me, he makes me tell him that I belong to him, and we can’t just go one round anymore. It’s like four or five rounds before we’re done fully.” 

Their eyes widen as they lean back on the pillows. “I thought when you said claim you, that you meant like pissing on you or something,” Robbie says. Now Dove and I look over at him. He shrugs his shoulders and says, “I’ve been watching a lot of Animal Planet. They do that on there.” 

Dove looks back at me and says, “Ignoring everything he just said. But that sounds hot so what’s the problem?” 

I shake my head. “There’s no problem, I was just wondering if you guys have an idea of why all of a sudden he’s acting like that.” Might as well ask them about it. 

“That sounds like something my dear Robbie would know about. Sounds very alpha male,” Dove says as he locks eyes with his boyfriend.

Robbie clears his throat before saying anything. “He’s staking a claim on you basically. I’ve done it to plenty of people I've slept with. I do it to Dove now,” Dove confirms this with a wink. “It sounds as if he’s preparing himself for when you leave. With all the fucking and making you tell him that you belong to him.” 

Psh, that can’t be it. “I don’t know about that. He’s gonna visit me in London anyway, so there’s no reason for him to be doing that.”

The couple shuts their mouths, Robbie getting back to his laces and Dove studying the bowl of popcorn in his hands. The small smirk that was forming on my face soon drops at their reactions. 

“What? Why aren’t you guys saying anything?” They don’t bat an eye. 

I throw my empty Pepsi can at Robbie’s head and flick Dove’s ear. “Ow, you bitch!” He yelps while holding his scarlet ear and reaches over to pinch my arm.

“Answer me!” I yell at them.

“When you guys came over last time for the sleepover, Dove and I noticed a few things about him that night.” 

I shrug my shoulders, racking my brain for an abnormal memory of that night, but come up with nothing. “Like what, spit it out, already!” 

“When I brought up London, he didn’t seem that on-board about the whole thing,” Dove says.

“What-what do you mean?” 

It’s quiet before anyone says anything. 

“We mean, Tambryn…That maybe, just maybe, and hopefully we’re wrong…but I don’t think Dean’s going to visit you.” God, why is Robbie so blunt about everything?

My lips part, about to say something, but then I close it when there’s nothing to say. I get my phone out of my pocket and dial Dean’s number. He picks up on the second ring.

“Hi, Princess. I was just about to call you,” he says cheerily. 

“Are you at work?” I ask.

“Umm, is there something wrong?” 

“Can you meet me at your house?” 

“Yes, I’ll leave now.” 

“Okay, good.” And then I hang up and rise from the couch. 

“Bryn, calm down!” Dove follows close behind me to the front door. I whip around to see Robbie behind Dove, too.

“I am calm, why don’t you guys think otherwise?” I ask in that manic voice when I’m trying to slow down my heart rate. 

“Because I know you, lover. And whatever he says or doesn’t say…just don’t expect him to say everything you’re looking for, okay?” I don’t answer him; I just walk out of the apartment. 

 

“Hey,” Dean says as he opens the door to his condo, he leans down to give me a kiss on the lips, but I just let him kiss my cheek. “You sounded pretty serious on the phone.”

I turn around to face him right when he gets the door closed. He’s wearing a gray suit with a blue tie on. Might as well get right to the point. 

“Do you plan on visiting me when I leave? Do you even plan on being in a relationship with me?” 

His face pales, and he purses his lips. And that’s it, there’s my answer right there. There’s suddenly a queasy feeling in my stomach just like every other time when I get into a scary situation. Like that time me, Benny, and Lily snuck out at night and got chased by those dogs for ten blocks. 

“Tambryn, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. Can we sit down?” He asks while motioning to the stools at the breakfast bar. 

I shake my head no, and say, “We can talk right here. Just tell me what you’ve been meaning to tell me.” 

He lets out a breath and tucks his hands into his pants pockets. “You moving to London will mean that we would hardly see each other. I mean, how can we go from seeing each other every other day to not seeing one another for months on end?”

“Ever heard of a long distance relationship?”

“Ever tried one?” Dean snaps back. He closes his mouth to take a few breaths in through the nose. “Those are hard to maintain, Tambryn. And that’s not the only reason I’m feeling a bit hesitant.”

There’s a part two to everything today, I guess. “What else is there?”

“Tambryn, how many boyfriends have you had before me?” He asks out of nowhere. 

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Trust me, it has everything to do with what I’m about to tell you.” 

I think back to everyone I’ve dated, which isn’t much. “About three. Yeah, three boyfriends.”

“You’ve been in a relationship four times, and only had sex with one. While I’ve unfortunately lost count of how many women I’ve slept with.”

I roll my eyes at that. “No reason to start comparing, old man.”

Dean shakes his head vehemently. “No, I’m not trying to compete. I’m just saying that you haven’t had the chance explore everything yet. And not just in that category, with life, also. You have an opportunity to do something great with your life. Your life is just beginning. I've done everything I've wanted. I just don’t want to be the one to hold you back from it. My family and friends, they gave me the chance to do what I wanted when I was your age, Princess. And I don’t want to get in your way with anything, not even the smallest part. You and I…we want different things now but they all come back to the same place.”

My heart sinks and tears weld in my eyes, blurring everything. “Are you- are you breaking up with me?” 

He shakes his head then shrugs. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know that I love you too much to stick around and be the reason you fail at something.” 

Dean’s words make me take a step back as if I were shoved. “But you’re going off of hypothetical situations. That doesn’t have to happen.” 

“But I don’t want to take that chance.”

“Well, what about what I want?! Don’t I get a say in this?!” My voice booms in the still air surrounding us. 

“What do you want, then?” He asks. 

“I want you to stay with me. I want you to come live with me in London, but, I’ll settle for visits. I want you to act like you care more about me than what you’re showing me right now.”

His face turns an angry red and I know that I’ve hit a nerve. “The reason why we’re having this whole conversation is because I care! Don’t you ever tell me I don’t care about you! We’ve been going about this for almost a year now and you try to tell me that I don’t care? The only reason I was thinking we should end it is because I love you too much to see you held back. You think you’re the only one that wants to cry? You think you’re the only angry about this whole situation? Well, you’re not! I want you to stay here with me! I wanted to build us a house and you be by my side for the rest of my life, but we don’t live in a fairy tale, Tambryn!”

“And I never said we did! I just- I just thought we could've lasted a little bit longer.” 

We’re engulfed in silence once again. My throat begins to hurt from trying to keep the tears from falling. 

“Me too,” Dean whispers. And it only took those two words to get the tears to fall. Just from those two words alone, I know that our relationship has reached the end. I fish out the car keys from my pocket and place it on the counter before walking to the door, pushing past Dean in the process. And unlike last time, he doesn’t call after me.

And when I get home, there are no missed calls or texts from him, also unlike last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got dark by the end, didn't it? Oh God, I was crying so hard when writing it. But I hope you all enjoyed it. If you have time, leave me a comment, yeah?


	29. Time To Go

The scouts just left our house with paperwork and such to finalize everything. I’m leaving May third which only gives me a couple of weeks to pack. Mom hasn’t been as mean as she usually is with me, I guess she can sense something happened between me and Dean since I haven’t been over to his house and all of my hickeys have healed (unfortunately). 

Dove comes over a little bit after them and we go up to my room. “So you guys are done…forever?” He asks with all the sadness in the world. I shrug and look down at my lap. 

“I guess.” 

“No! You guys can’t be done! I ship you two so hard!”

“He doesn’t wanna be with me anymore.”

Dove squeezes my knee, making me look up at him. “I talked to him the other day and he really does love you, Bryn. I guess he’s just going by that old saying: if you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you then it’s yours.”

“But he already made me admit that I belong to him! A billion times! It just doesn’t make sense.”

“When does love ever make sense, lover?” 

 

“Well look who it is. Our long lost friend, Tambryn!” Benny exclaims as he opens his front door. Lily sticks her blonde head out to get a look. She gives me a bright smile. I push past him and enter his house, seeing his mother, Lourdes, folding clothes on the living room couch. I give her a short wave. 

“We’re out back, come on,” Benny says as he makes his way to the back porch.

Benny’s back yard is wider than his house which is weird. Lily’s sitting on a blue lawn chair and he takes the hammock. I sit on Lily’s lap. Even though there’s another chair right next to us, but I just missed her…him too, I guess. 

“Heard you’re leavin’ soon,” Benny says. I lean my head back on Lily’s shoulder.

“Yep.”

“What about Mr. Maverick, is he going?” Shit. Now I have to explain everything to them. I try to keep the tears at bay, but Benny’s staring hard as hell at me and sees them anyway. 

“Did he do something, Bryn? ‘Cuz you know my tio Vero just got outta jail and he’s not scared to go back in,” Benny says.

“We just broke up, Benito. No need to add another tear tattoo to your uncle’s face.” And he has the audacity to look disappointed. 

“What happened?” Lily asks. I tell them the whole story of what went down just last week. 

“That’s some deep stuff,” Benny mumbles.

“So…you guys are just done?” Lily asks.

I shrug and say, “Guess so.”

“But you can’t be!”

“Why are you so invested into their relationship?” Benny asks. 

“I just saw how happy you made each other. And to be honest, he was way better than Jacob, you gotta admit.” 

Benny agrees silently before almost falling out of the hammock. 

“But anyway, I heard my mom on the phone with your mom talking about throwing you a trunk party,” Lily says. 

“I think that was supposed to be a surprise, dude,” Benny tells her.

“Oh well, she knows now.”

“Do you guys have plans? Never really talked about it,” I ask them.

“Mechanic for now. The only reason I’d go to college is for the girls,” Benny answers. Of course, why would I expect anything less?

“I’m taking general education classes at Harold Washington, and then I might transfer over to a university,” Lily says. Sounds like a plan. 

The next few hours we just spend catching up and goofing around. I’ve missed these guys so much and didn’t even know it until now. 

 

“You two broke up, didn’t y’all?” Mom asks out of nowhere one morning. She came into my room to set my basket of clean clothes down when she just laid that one on me. 

I put my phone down to look up at her. She closes my door and takes a seat at the edge of my bed. 

“How did you know?” I ask her. 

She gives me a look and says, “I’ve been around the block a few times, Bryn. I know a break up when I see one. Wanna talk about it?”

This is the nicest she’s been to me in months. I guess the reality of her daughter going away soon is setting in. 

I sit up in my bed and cross my legs. “He let me go.”

“What do you mean by that?” She asks. 

My shoulders shrug. “He didn’t come right out and say it, but I think the age difference finally got to him since he said that he wanted me to explore the world like he was able to when he was my age. He said he loved me, and I believe him…but he just let me go.” 

And I guess her motherly senses are tingling since she pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around her, missing these small little moments so much. 

“We all go through heartbreak in our lives, honey. Some more than others, and in your case, some earlier than others. I’ve got to admit, when I first found out about you two, I was so angry. I was angry at him for what I thought was him taking you away from me and I was angry with myself for not noticing earlier. But now that I think about it, he was a good guy for you wasn’t he?” I nod my head, yes. 

“You probably don’t understand what he meant by letting you go, but I do. He has responsibilities here that he can’t just leave, Bryn. And there’s really nothing left for you here. This chapter of your life is coming to a close and Dean knew that he wasn’t in the next one. What he did was actually admirable because it takes a lot of strength to let go the one you love most,” Mom tells me. 

She lets me go and I sit back on my bed. “I just wanted him to come with me,” it comes out as a whine, but oh well. 

“I know you did, baby. But London is just for you to experience. You come back and tell us about it.” 

“What did you mean by there’s no one left here for me? You and Renee are still gonna be here,” I ask her. 

She sets her shoulders with a bright smile on her face. “I got a job offer. After you leave, Renee and I are moving to Texas. I’m going to be a private chef for a music producer there,” she answers. 

My eyes widen. “That’s great! How did you get that?” 

“Garrett, that’s his name, he was here a while back ago at one of the events I was catering for. He liked the food and found out that I was looking for a job and hired me right over the phone. I was supposed to be there by now, but I told him that I had to see my daughter off to college. Thank God he understood. So we’re leaving a week after you. He’s even paying for the plane tickets and the first months rent on our house there.”

The mirth in my mother’s eyes is undeniable. She’s wanted to be a private chef more than a caterer and now she’s got it. “That’s awesome, ma.”

She nods her head, “Yeah. This opportunity will also give me the much needed time I need with Renee.” 

I nod my head with a smile. She grabs my hand and holds it in hers, making me look right into her eyes. “I’m sorry for not being around as much as I should’ve been. It’s just that after your father left, I was worried about not having enough money for you two.” 

She’s about to say more, but I stop her. “I understand, ma, no need to explain.”

She shakes her head and says, “I did it for you. I did it for both of you, just wanted you to know that.”

Mom gives me one last hug before walking out of my room. “Oh, and Lily told me about the party!” I yell after her. The frustrated breath she takes is comical. 

“Of course she did,” Mom mutters before walking down the steps. 

 

Since I know about the party, Mom sent me down to Target to get the cups for MY party. I’m in the dessert aisle, because, well…food. And I just had to run into Valencia. Yep, Dean’s Valencia. Oh, God.

She looks just as startled as me. “Hi, Bryn,” she says. 

“Hi, Valencia,” I reply. 

Out of all the awkward things that have happened in my life, this has to be in the top three. I mean, I fucked her dad, guys…and she probably knows that. 

“What uhh- what are you doing here?” She asks. 

“Oh umm, my mom sent me to get cups for my going away party,” I answer.

She nods her head. “Where are you going?” 

“London. I got a scholarship for a dance school there.” 

She looks impressed. “That’s pretty cool. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. How about your boutique? How’s that going?”

“Great, actually. More and more people seem to be coming in by the day. We’re even thinking about opening up a shop on the North Side.”

“That’s great.”

Valencia nods her head. Silence literally drowns us and I can’t take it anymore. I grab a few packages of cookies and say, “Well. I should be heading back…”

“Wait, Bryn!” I turn back around to see her face is bright red. “I know it’s not really any of my business, but for what it’s worth, I like you and Daddy misses you even though he doesn’t say it out loud. Just the way he acts…you can tell. I just didn’t want you to think he didn’t care about you.”

I’m speechless, and how many times am I, Tambryn Elise Caverly, speechless? Not that much, that’s a fact. “Umm thanks, Valencia. That really means a lot. So uhh, how is he doing?” 

She does a light shrug. “Daddy’s just being Daddy. But he is a bit sadder and I can only assume since you two broke up. Would you mind if I told him that I saw you?” 

“No, no, go right ahead. Tell him I said ‘hi’,” I tell her. She nods her head with a smile and then we go our separate ways. 

 

“You got the cups?” Mom asks right when I get into the house. I pass her the Target bag and follow her to the kitchen. “Now remember, you’re supposed to be surprised tomorrow.” 

My eyes roll all on their own. “Everyone knows that I know, ma,” I deadpan.

She turns around to give me a look before getting back to what she was doing. “So? Lily wasn’t supposed to tell you. Let me have this one thing.”

I huff, but guess I’ll indulge her with being surprised. “So who’s all coming?” I ask. 

“Your friends, your friends’ parents, Dovett, Grandma, Aunt Lettie, my sisters, and only the cousins that you like,” she lists. 

Ohh, haven’t seen the cousins that I actually like in awhile. “Everyone’s bringing me something?” 

“That shouldn’t be the only thing you’re looking forward to, but yes. And Dove’s going to sleep over tonight to help me set up for tomorrow.” And as if on cue, there’s a knock on the door. I hop off the table to go answer it.

“Heyyyy!!!” Dove yells on the top of his lungs. He ambushes me into a hug with his hands filled with bags. 

When he lets me go, I ask, “What’s in the bags?” I try to get a peek, but he snatches them away.

“Nuh-uh, no peeking, not until tomorrow,” he says while walking past me and into the kitchen. 

“Give me the bags, I’ll put them somewhere she won’t find ‘em,” Mom says as she motions for the bags. Oh God, these two. She goes upstairs to put them in her closet (as if I didn’t know that yet) and leaves me and Dove here. 

“Where’s Robbie?” I ask.

He dips his hand in the sauce on the stove and puts it in his mouth before answering me. “Oh, he’s at home. He’s coming tomorrow. How are you holding up?” And I know exactly what he’s talking about. 

I motion for us to go upstairs to my room and we go. For some odd reason, Dove crashes on my bed first. “I saw his daughter at Target,” I tell him.

He whips his head around to look me in the eye. “How awkward! I mean, she probably knows that you fucked her dad…what happened?” Him and I…we hang out too much.

“We talked, she told me that she likes me, and that was basically it.” And he has the nerve to look disappointed. 

“That it?” 

“What the hell were you expectin’?”

He shrugs his shoulders and says, “I dunno, somethin’ juicier than that.”

“Have you talked to him?” 

The smile gets wiped from his face and he looks down at the patterns on my blanket. I sit on the bed right next to him, and start poking him in the shoulder. “You’ve talked to him, haven’t you?”

“He just wants to know how you’re doing, so I tell him,” Dove blurts. 

“So he talks to you and not me? That’s awesome.”

“The only reason why he doesn’t talk to you anymore is because he’s afraid that he’ll go to London with you. I asked him myself.”

I huff and lay back on my bed. “And what’s so wrong with that?” 

“You already know why he doesn’t want to do that, lover.” 

I huff and cross my arms. “It’s still stupid.” 

“Ugh, enough with the depressing talk. Let’s eat chocolate and watch, Mean Girls.”

 

The next afternoon is when everyone starts coming over for the party. Mom cooked a bunch of food and my grandma brought my favorite stuff (chocolate chip cookies and macaroni and cheese, not together though). Everyone brought me money so I can have something when I get to London, which is awesome. A thousand bucks so far. 

While everyone is eating and having a good time, I grab Renee and take her in the basement. “Why did we have to come down here?” She asks.

I close the door after me before saying anything. “I wanted to talk to you about us.”

She rolls her eyes, just like I knew she would. 

“No, wait hear me out. You and I haven’t been as close as we should’ve been. It took talking to Dove and Robbie for me to notice how strained our relationship is. And well, I guess I was kinda jealous to see you talking to Clark more than me.”

She cracks a smile at that and says, “You were jealous of Dad?”

I shrug. “Well, yeah. I’m around more than him and the only time we seem to talk is when we’re asking where ma is or when we argue. I’m not saying that it’s all your fault, I just wish things weren’t like that.”

Renee looks down and shuffles her feet. “I guess I wish things were different, too.” 

Good, we’re making progress, now for the biggest thing. “And I’m sorry for telling Mom about your cutting. She needed to know, ‘cause that shit can get dangerous. But I guess I should’ve let you tell her instead of me. She pissed me off and I was just trying to make a point, but that wasn’t the way it should have been.”

She looks up at me with a hint of a smile on her face. “Tambryn is sorry?” 

I roll my eyes with a smile. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t let it get to your head, bub.” 

“So…what do we do now?”

“I leave tomorrow, so can we start calling each other? You call me when something happens, good or bad. And I’ll call you for the same thing,” I offer.

“I can do that.”

I know I’m pushing it, but… “And what about a hug for now?” 

Renee scrunches her nose up at me. “Okay, fine whatever.” She walks towards me and wraps her arms around my midsection. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and we stay like that for awhile. And it hits me then that we haven’t hugged in years. 

 

The day comes and we’re at the airport. Me, Renee, Mom, Benny, Lily, Dove, and Robbie, all of us. Tears are swelling in all of our eyes, but we’re trying to keep them in. It was hard to get them all past the gate, but Mom persuaded the guards somehow. I have to start boarding in five minutes and it’s getting realer by the second. 

“Make sure you call me when you get there. And call me when you wake up. It doesn’t matter if our sleeping hours are different, I’ll keep my phone right by my bed,” Mom says as she fixes my jacket for the hundredth time just to do something with her hands. When we’re this close, I can see the tears falling. 

“I will, don’t worry.”

“And you call me, too, honey. You know I stay up all night,” Dove seconds. 

“You might as well call me, too,” Lily says.

I smile and say, “Why don’t I just call all of you when I land. That sound good?” They all nod their heads. 

My boarding gate flashes on the screen, letting me know that it’s time to go. Mom hears it, too and just starts crying, pulling me in for another hug. Then everyone joins in. Above everyone’s head, Dean’s still tall enough for me to see him. My breath catches in my throat. 

They all start to let me go and make room for Dean, even my Mom. 

“Hi,” he says.

“Hey.”

“I- uhh, wanted to see you before you left.”

“I’m glad you did. How did you know?”

He points over his shoulder and says, “Dove told me.” Dove waves at me and Robbie puts his hand down.

“Figures.”

“Tambryn, I’m sorry with how everything went down. You may not understand my reasoning, but I was just thinking about you.”

“No, I know that now. It still hurt, though.” 

He nods his head and looks down. “I know it hurts me, too.” We stare at each other a little bit longer before he asks, “May I have a hug, is that okay?” I don’t answer him; I just barrel over to him. He hugs me as tight as I hold him. 

“Last call for Gate C!” The person over the intercom calls. 

“Is that you?” Dean asks my hair. I nod my head, breathing in his scent one last time. He holds me at arm length, looking at me and I look at him. 

“Maybe I’ll see you again,” I whisper to him.

“See the world first.”

I nod my head and he lets me go. I pick up my carry on bag and get one more hug from everyone before I get in line to board the plane. 

“Wait, Bryn!” Benny calls after me. I turn around to see him holding a wad of cash. Oh, gawd.

“Finally! I almost forgot about this!” I say while pocketing the money. 

“What’s that for?” Mom asks. 

We all freeze, everyone knowing except her and Renee. 

“I’ll tell ya on the ride back, Georgia,” Dove says, saving me once again. 

I look at Dean and he looks at me. He gives me a wave and mouths, “Love you.” Why does he have to make me cry? I wipe the tears away, wave back at him before walking down the hallway and onto the plane. 

And now, I’m on my own for the first time ever. I dig in my pocket to find hundreds of bills. I count it up and it adds up to ten thousand bucks! Of course he’d find a way to take care of me one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter, guys! The next one will be five years into the future, so Bryn will be 23 years old and Dean will be 53.


	30. The Last

Everyone visited me in London, just like they said they would (minus you know who). Dove…more than others. It seemed like every other month his ass was right there with me in my dorm. Right when I got to the states, I had to go visit Mom and Renee in Texas. They weren’t able to visit me as much as everyone else with Mom working and going to counseling with Renee, but it was fine. I visited them first and stayed with them for a few weeks before flying out to Chicago.

I hung out with Dove who was all too excited to take me to all the gay clubs he couldn’t take me to before. But now that I’ve been back in town for a month, staying at Dove and Robbie’s new place, I know what I need to do. Dove confirms that he’s still working downtown, so I take the train that leads me right to the big tall building. 

The elevator doors open to the top floor and it’s all hustle and bustle. “Tambryn! Is that Tambryn?!” A familiar voice shouts over all of the noise. I look to my left to see Alex walking over. 

I meet him half way and he pulls me into a hug. “I thought you were gone forever, girl! Where ya stayin’?” He asks when we part. 

“I’m at Dove’s for right now. My mom wants me to come live with her, though.”

He nods his head in understanding. “I get ya, mothers are always protecting their kids, even when they’re not kids anymore.” I nod in agreement. 

“So where is he?” 

He points to the closed office door and I thank him before walking towards the office. My heart is thumping in my chest the whole walk over. 

“May I help you?” There’s a small older lady sitting at the desk I used to have. 

“Oh, is Mr. Maverick in here with anyone?” I ask her.

“No, but do you have an appointment?” 

“No, I don’t need one, though.” I knock on the door and the lady stands up.

“Young lady, I can’t let you go in there without an appointment,” she says.

“I’m not taking any clients right now, thank you,” Dean says from the other side.

I roll my eyes at the both of them and open the door anyway. His eyes look up to see who it is and he looks the same, but then he doesn’t. His beard is more silver and so is his hair. It would make any other person look old, but him…it just makes him look like a sophisticated sexy man…whatever the hell that is. 

“I told her that you weren’t seeing anymore clients, but she just burst in. Should I call security?” The old hag asks. 

Dean stands up and walks in front of his desk. “That won’t be needed, Barbara. Please close the door after yourself,” he says, dismissing her.

I turn to the old lady and say, “Yeah thanks, Barbara.” She gives me a wrinkled dirty look before closing the door. 

“Don’t you look different,” Dean says as he looks me over.

“Different in a bad way?” I ask him. 

He shakes his head. “Different in a mature way. Five years…you’re…twenty-three now, right?” 

“Yep. Fifty-three years old aren’t ya, old man,” I tease. His bright smile shows through the beard. He nods his head. 

I walk over to the wall mounted book shelf to check out if there are any new books.

“How was London?” He asks. 

I shrug while looking at all the first editions of everything. “It was pretty cool. I visited the Churchill War Rooms you were talking about awhile back ago.”

“Did you? How was it?”

“Interesting. Learned a lot. Churchill was a douche bag.”

Dean’s laughter hasn’t changed one bit, neither hasn’t the way it always made me feel. “That’s one way to put it.” 

“I got my degree in Dance and I even majored in Liberal Arts,” I tell him. 

He makes an impressed sound. “Two degrees? Congrats.”

“Thanks-“ I was about to say something else, before a little red book catches my attention. I pull it from the shelf to see my favorite book, In Mike We Trust. “You read it?” 

I turn around to see him blushing, but he nods his head. “You said it was a good book, so I read it. And you were right.” I can’t believe it, this dude actually read it!

“Wow,” it comes out as a whisper as I push it back in its place, next to all of the other smart classics. “So what have you been up to, old man?” 

He takes in a breath and turns to his desk. “Well, I just got back from the hospital last night. Valencia just had her first baby. A boy. Dean Van Hutcherson.” 

My eyes widen at that. “Grandpa Dean, again! And now you got a little person named after you!” 

He nods his head proudly. “Yes. Her fiancé didn’t mind it as long as the boy got his last name. She was really adamant about naming him after me.”

“Wasn’t she always the Daddy’s girl, though?”

“Touché.”

“So what are you now…Big D?” I giggle because I couldn’t resist. 

His eyes roll with a smile. “Of course you’d find a way to make something as innocent as that inappropriate.”

There’s silence between us for awhile, but it’s not uncomfortable. “So…what’s been going on in Dean Maverick’s love life? Any lucky ladies?” I ask. 

“No. Well, there’s been women, but not as serious as…we were,” he answers truthfully. “What about you? Any men in London?”

I shrug my shoulders. “It’s just like you said. There were dudes, but nothin’ serious. Their accents were killin’ me, though.”

A smile breaks out on his face. “Ahh, Tambryn. No one’s made me smile like this in a very long time.”

A small grin shows on my face. “Glad to hear it. But I gotta tell ya somethin’.”

“What’s that?” He asks.

“In those five years I was gone, I didn’t just stay in London.”

“Oh?”

I slowly walk over to him. “Nope, I’ve been to Rome, Amsterdam, Nigeria, and even India.” I end up in front of him at the end. “I saw the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to thank everyone for reading and an even bigger thanks for the people that left comments. Your different takes and feelings on the story were entertaining and I enjoyed writing every bit of it. And just because I can't let go of Bryn and Dean fully, I'm going to start a mini series of their life after this story. Don't expect it too soon, but it will be out, maybe by Winter. And again, thanks, guys! ;D


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